MANDALAY—Police seized nearly 4,000 counterfeit 10,000-kyat banknotes worth a total of US$26,437 from five people traveling in a van in Pyigyitagon Township in Mandalay on Sunday.
Acting on a tip-off, police tailed the suspects and searched their van on Kanaung Minthagyi Road in Pyigyitagon at around 5 a.m. on Sunday. They found 3,968 counterfeit 10,000-kyat bills along with a few real 10,000-kyat notes and border passes that would allow the suspects to cross in and out of areas in China and India on the Myanmar border. Police also found a receipt for a color printer which they believe could be used to forge banknotes. Police arrested all five people in the van.
According to police records, they received a tip that counterfeit banknotes were being carried to Mandalay. They followed the suspects as they left a guesthouse on the old Yangon-Mandalay Road and stopped them at a junction. All five detainees are from Yangon.
“The arrest was made by the [Mandalay] Division police force. A case has been opened with the relevant police station. As the case is being handled directly by the division police force, we can’t speak to the details,” said a police officer in Pyigyitagon Township who asked to remain anonymous.
Police have opened a case against the suspects under Section 106/107 of the 2013 Central Bank of Myanmar Law, which outlines punishments for issuing counterfeit currency. If convicted, they will face up to 20 years in prison.
Mandalay is located strategically on the main trade routes to both China and India. Lately, there have been frequent reports of police seizing drugs, arms and explosives in Mandalay.
Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko
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