Authorities in Kosovo have arrested six individuals suspected of producing and circulating counterfeit money, seizing a significant amount of fake currency in the process.

According to the Special Prosecutor’s Office of Kosovo, three of the arrested individuals are Kosovo citizens, and three are from North Macedonia. The institution stated that the money is suspected to have been produced “in a neighboring state to Kosovo and then distributed by criminal groups in the region”.

“In this operation, bags containing metal 2-euro coins with a value of 85,010 euros, suspected to be counterfeit, have been seized. Additionally, four vehicles used by the arrested individuals and seven mobile phones have been confiscated,” said the statement from the Special Prosecutor’s Office regarding the operation carried out by the Kosovo Police and the Directorate for the Investigation of Economic Crimes and Corruption.

The arrested individuals have been placed in custody for 48 hours.

A massive increase in counterfeit money has been observed in the Kosovo market. Experts from the Forensic Agency earlier in November told Radio Free Europe that the value of counterfeit money in Kosovo is on the rise compared to the previous year.

According to authorities, 2-euro coins and 50-euro banknotes are the most counterfeited.

Due to the circulation of counterfeit money in the market, some stores and bakeries in Kosovo have started to refuse payments with 2-euro coins.