Four people have been arrested and counterfeit US$100 banknotes worth over 700,000 baht seized from them in Bangkok.
Consumer Protection Police Division (CPPD) officials yesterday apprehended four members of the suspected counterfeit banknote gang at a hotel on the Kaset-Nawamin road in Bang Khen district. The team seized 280 fake $100 banknotes and three mobile phones from them.
The suspects, three men and one woman, were identified as Ek-issarachan ''Ek'' Sukkasem, 48, Boonyaphat Kijpaisarn, 52, Somchai Buasem, 47, and Samart Polraksa, 35.
CPPD chief Norasak Hemnithi said the arrests followed complaints from traders in border areas that fake US banknotes were rampant. This prompted the division to send police to investigate.
Officers then posed as buyers to contact the gang to buy the banknotes, Pol Maj Gen Norasak said.