Posted on 10/21/2005 6:18:45 PM PDT by LurkedLongEnough
A smuggler arriving from Sydney has been caught at a New Zealand airport with almost $US1.3 million in counterfeit notes.
Mustafa Yousif Ibrahim was arrested at Auckland International Airport as he came off a flight from Sydney last night.
Ibrahim was born in Sudan but is believed to have been made a New Zealand resident in the early 1990s after arriving as a refugee.
A police summary of facts, presented in the Manukau District Court today, said the counterfeit money was found by customs officers as they searched Ibrahim's bags before he came through the entry gate at the airport.
"On searching the ... bags a large amount of counterfeit American currency was discovered.
"The currency was in 158 separate bundles."
Each of the bundles comprised 80 $US100 notes, with the total amount found coming to $US1.26 million, police said.
Police said Ibrahim could not give "any logical explanation" for having the money. He appeared on one charge of being in possession of forged currency.
Ibrahim, who said he was unemployed, was remanded on bail for two weeks and has had to hand over his passport to the police.
It's pretty crazy how much fake USD's exist overseas...
String 'em up, Hang 'em high. Those Muzzie b***turds.
Those crazy Amish! Always up to no good!
Bad refugee. No cookie!
Let out without $$ bail?
TROP Alert!
"Ibrahim, who said he was unemployed, was remanded on bail for two weeks and has had to hand over his passport to the police."
WTF?!!? They let him go free!!!
Hell, it's a little crazy how many bills HERE are fake. I've encountered two bills -- a 10 and a 20 -- that smeared when they got wet. Never encountered one fake bill in my life until I got to Atlanta.
"Never encountered one fake bill in my life until I got to Atlanta."
The good ones, you never do...
Poor little refugee :( . I'd just-about row a boat over to New Zealand to hang that pos!
hopefully they're watching to see what he does, who he calls...
Which one?
Good point!
I've got a twenty that looks really, really good. The only thing is the color is a bit off, like somebody had it in his pocket when he changed his oil or something.
I show it to people, but I ALWAYS tell them it's fake and make sure they understand before they even touch it.
North Korea is a large "broker" in colored currency. Cross index North Korea and supernotes. Exclusively Ben Franklin.
I guess this means another order has been lost. I sure do wish there were DIRECT flights from Sydney to my little island....
He was probably supposed to do a little better on this smuggling road. Of course they let him out. He becomes a target for the people who got scre*** by his caper. This was "real" money to the forgers. He'll be dead in a couple days! Saves food, guard costs, trial, maintenace!!
That must be the name of one of those Swedish grandmothers they've been searching at the airports.
I used to see them all the time when I worked at Six Flags Magic Mountain back in the 70s. They were easy to spot. It was often a clueless foreigner. Someone once explained to me how much bad counterfeit US cash is floating around the world and how foreigners often bring it here to spend -- to great surprise.
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