Six people were detained in raids carried out at several properties in Zapopan and Guadalajara.
Some 125,000 fake 500-peso bills were confiscated at four metro-area addresses. The PGR said four women and one man were arrested and more than ten vehicles and two restricted firearms seized at three residences in the Lomas de Zapopan neighborhood. Later, another man was taken into custody at a print shop at the corner of Humboldt and Herrera y Cairo in downtown Guadalajara.
According to PGR Criminal Investigation Agency Director Tomás Zerón de Lucio, the gang presumably received protection from Guadalajara municipal police officers.
The PGR continues its investigation on the origin of the paper, ink and machinery used to produce the false bills. According to Alejandro Alegre Rabiela, an official of the Banco de Mexico, the paper and ink were similar to those used by the federal authority that prints the nation’s money. Alegre Rabiela noted that one of every three false bills is a 500-peso note.