Three persons, namely Charles Lawson, a Nigerian; Amadou Quattara, a Guinean and Ebrima Danso, a Gambian, are currently in police custody for allegedly printing and distributing counterfeit currencies within the Greater Banjul Area.

The three suspects were arrested on Monday, December 24, 2007, and handed over to the Fraud Squad of the police force. They were presented to journalists at a press briefing moderated by Crime Management Coordinator (CMC) Burama Dibba at the Police Headquaters in Banjul and attended by IGP Benedict Jammeh.

According to CMC Dibba, the suspects were arrested following a tip-off and in the process an amount of D12,100 in D50 denominations, D100 notes and CFA 21,000, all counterfeit, were recovered. He said that in their preminary investigations, they found out that Lawson was the ring leader assisted by Quatarra while Danso acted as the chief distributor of the currencies in the local market.

For his part, ASP Jobe, officer commanding, Fraud Squad of the Police Force, said the suspects used various items including a colour printer and A4-sized papers to print the money. He revealed that the suspects gave out an amount of D650 in D50 denominations for circulation in Sanchaba Sulay Jobe, and amount recovered by the police during the course of the arrest.

Speaking in an upbeat mood, IGP Jammeh expressed delight over the arrest of the three individuals attributing it to the cordial relationship between the public and the police and stated that they will never disclose the names of their informants to the public.

"Those involved in such acts [counterfeiting], should bear in mind that they are getting closer to the police net," he stressed.

IGP Jammeh was, however, quick to  add that the suspects are innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.