MONROVIA – Police in Liberia have arrested two students aged 19 and 20 with 2.8 million US dollars in counterfeit bills, the commander of the Liberian National Police in the port of Buchanan said Friday.

“They were picked up in the streets of Buchanan following a tip off from a good citizen,” commander Jeremiah Tehteh.

“The two boys told us that they were doing this because of hardship. We are still investigating to get to the source of the money,” Tehteh said.

Both the US dollar and the Liberian dollar are commonly used currencies in the West African country.

“Here you can use the US dollar everywhere to buy. So these people don’t go to the bank. They go in the market, on the street and any other place where their product cannot be easily detected,” the police chief explained.

He said that it was the second time in a few months the Buchanan police came across such a counterfeiting scheme.

Three months ago they seized $250 000 in counterfeit notes.

– Moneybiz