The Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption in North Macedonia has announced that it has uncovered and confiscated around half a million euros, including equipment for counting and falsifying money, copies of banknote parts, as well as weapons and ammunition, during an operation conducted on Monday.
In a press release, the Prosecutor’s Office stated that the operation, codenamed “Vardar,” resulted in the arrest of ten individuals and was carried out in cooperation with the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (EUROPOL), with support from Eurojust – the EU Agency for Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters – and several Serbian investigative institutions.
“EUROPOL and the EUROJUST Project for Criminal Justice in the Western Balkans enabled operational coordination, critical intelligence analysis, and technical assistance for the operation,” the Prosecutor’s Office said in the statement.
During the searches, authorities seized approximately 500,000 euros, 25,000 US dollars, 500 Swiss francs, 1,800 Israeli shekels, 500 Croatian kunas, 10,000 Albanian lek, 1,000 Swedish krona, and 25,000 Russian rubles.
“23 search warrants were executed on individuals and residences, and material evidence was secured,” the Prosecutor’s Office said.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, this operation is a continuation of an August operation last year, when authorities in Skopje, in coordination with the Special Prosecutor’s Office of Kosovo and with the support of Eurojust and EUROPOL, seized counterfeit euro currency production equipment, both finished and semi-finished, molds, and other materials for manufacturing.
In that operation, a police officer from North Macedonia was arrested in Kosovo under suspicion of producing around two million counterfeit two-euro coins. He was part of the department for fighting serious crimes and organized crime within the Macedonian police. Investigation sources told Radio Free Europe that the arrested individual was part of the counterfeiters’ network but not the main organizer of the operation.
The Prosecutor’s Office also reported on the developments and outcomes of the operation conducted in Serbia.
“In the Republic of Serbia, raids were carried out in several locations in Novi Pazar, Novi Sad, Sombor, and Subotica. Six members of the criminal group were arrested, and 180,000 counterfeit euro banknotes were seized,” the Prosecutor’s Office announced.
