Spanish police crack counterfeit 100-euro note operation

"The banknotes produced by the organisation were made by hand, were very high quality, as they used special inks, watermarks and different elements designed to circumvent the detection mechanisms," said Spanish National Police spokesperson Elisa Rebolo.

Based in Naples, Rome and Barcelona, a gang of Pakistani origin distributed the bank notes in Italy, France, Greece and Spain, police said.

Police said they had arrested distributors at Barcelona airport and the city bus station, in both instances carrying 70,000 euros in counterfeit notes.

The police operation involved forces in Spain, Italy and Greece and began last November after large numbers of counterfeit notes were discovered in Barcelona.