Erbil police arrest gang for armed robberies, selling counterfeit US currency

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The police department in Kurdistan Region's capital on Wednesday announced the arrest of a gang allegedly selling counterfeit US dollar bills and robbing civilians at gunpoint.

Erbil police spokesman Hogir Aziz told Kurdistan 24 that the group had sold civilians forged US dollar notes for half the local market value of the currency.

He noted that the suspects had also robbed citizens at gunpoint. Erbil police forces arrested three members of the gang and impounded their vehicle and weapons, Aziz added.

The detainees "would post advertisements on social media platforms to claim they had 'Libyan Dollar' bills and offered ten thousand dollars of it for five thousand US dollars," the police official explained.

Local illicit market traders have been known to sell counterfeit dollar bills at discount prices by claiming the notes are from the frozen funds belonging to the regime of former Libyan President Mu'ammar al-Qadhdhafi.

Members of the gang are alleged to regularly met up with unsuspecting victims to either sell them the forged bills or rob them at gunpoint, Aziz said.

Up until their arrest, members of the gang had stolen some 40,000 USD, with the authorities only recovering part of that money.