Brief: Big fake euro seizure in Kosovo

Police and customs in Kosovo say they have arrested two people after seizing more than €2m in counterfeit euro banknotes.

The haul of mixed euros – including €50, €100, €200 and €500 notes – was discovered ahead of the weekend in a vehicle crossing the border into Kosovo from neighbouring Albania, according to a police statement. It is said to be the largest seizure of counterfeits in country since the late 1990s.

The two men in the vehicle, an Albanian and a man originally from Cameroon but with French residency, were discovered with €2.13m in forged banknotes plus other items used in currency counterfeiting. That included nearly 3,000 blank paper notes ready for printing the €500 note, aluminium foil strips and eight bottles of chemicals.

Kosovo and other Balkan states have serious cross-border illicit trade issues, with currency, drugs, tobacco, arms and people smuggling flourishing in the face of porous borders between states that lie just outside the EU.