Mexico City police have arrested two alleged members of a counterfeiting and drug trafficking ring, and seized around 200,000 pesos (US $11,600) in apparent fake cash.
The Mexico City Security Ministry (SSC) announced on Wednesday the arrest of a 35-year-old woman and a 66-year-old woman at an address in the Iztacalco borough of the capital for which police obtained a search warrant.
The women have been identified as Janeth “N” and María de Lourdes “N,” alleged members of a crime group that reportedly also includes Colombian nationals.
The SSC said in a statement that the arrests came after an investigation that identified “a criminal cell dedicated to the production and distribution of possibly counterfeit bills and the sale of narcotics.”
In addition to detaining the two women, police seized “109 doses and 15 packages of a green and dry herb similar to marijuana, five cell phones, a blue vehicle without license plates and 85 banknotes of different denominations that lack security seals and could be false,” the ministry said.
Security Minister Pablo Vázquez said on the X social media platform that the 85 “apparently false” bills added up to over 40,000 pesos.
In a separate statement on Thursday, the SSC said that police searched the property where the two women were arrested and found 159,200 pesos in “possibly fake bills” as well as US $300 in a drain.
Most of the likely bogus banknotes were old and new 500-peso bills. Photos also showed that a smaller number of apparently counterfeit 1,000-peso and 200-peso bills were also seized.
The detained suspects allegedly used fake money at street markets in Iztacalco, the Security Ministry said Wednesday. It also said the two women “are possibly related to other extortion events.”
