AN ALLEGED maker of counterfeit money was arrested by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Central Visayas (CIDG 7) during an entrapment in Barangay San Nicolas, Cebu City on Tuesday night,

Oct. 19, 2021.

Suspect Joseph Mercado Salas, 36, reportedly sold P10,000 worth of bogus bills for P1,000 for quite some time already; however, Salas denied that he had been engaged in peddling counterfeit money for a long time, saying he did it only thrice in the past.

The CIDG 7 operatives seized 16 pieces of counterfeit P1,000 bills and 13 pieces of counterfeit P500 bills.

Lt. Col. Hector Amancia, CIDG 7 deputy chief, said they placed Salas under surveillance after receiving information about his illegal activity. After verifying that the information about the suspect was true, the CIDG 7 immediately contacted the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for an entrapment, which resulted in the arrest of the suspect.

Salas reportedly had been making counterfeit money in the past four months. He divulged to the investigators the identity of the person who hired him. This person is subject for a followup operation.

Amancia said they have intensified the monitoring of the making of counterfeit money because it is already election season and fake bills could be used in vote-buying activities during the campaign period and election day in May 2022. (AYB)