Colombia forges ahead

Counterfeiting: A new illegal speciality

By Jeremy McDermott in Colombia

Colombia produces the highest amount of the world's counterfeit dollars, adding to its reputation as the top supplier of cocaine.

Police have discovered an underground printing factory in the side of the Andes mountains, western Colombia, which is capable of producing three million high quality dollar notes every week.

The factory near Versaiges shows that Colombian counterfeiting has reached a sophisticated level.

The forging warehouse was found in the Andes

Experts say that laser printing and digital technology have meant that it is now only the paper that could give the identity of a counterfeit note away.

Colombian forgers use Venezuelan and Bolivian bank notes because they are the same size as US dollars.

They chemically bleach the notes and print the dollars on the paper to give an authentic feel.

Cigarette foil

To overcome the difficult task of imitating the metallic strip on dollar notes, the Colombian producers use the foil strip used to open cigarette packets.

There is still uncertainty over how many Colombian counterfeit notes are in circulation.

The US treasury estimates that 90% of the counterfeit dollars around the world have been forged in Colombia with more than $100m put out in the last 15 years.

Korea takes the silver medal, with 5% of world output.

Circulating counterfeit dollars has now become easier for Colombia as its neighbour Ecuador, has adopted the US dollar as its national currency and most people cannot yet distinguish between a genuine and a fake dollar note.