Cinco bolsas repletas de monedas de dos eruos falsas. Policía Nacional

Three people have been arrested by the National Police on suspicion of producing 12,000 forged €2 coins in their homes, using items and tools such as gas canisters and precision lathes. The three suspects are thought to have been operating for a year in three home workshops.

Sources from the investigation have explained that the standard of the forged coins was sufficient for them not to be detected in public transport ticket machines, where they are alleged to have been used by their makers. According to police sources, the detainees would regularly make purchases at ticket machines in different locations, and never at the same time.

The detainees have criminal records for a number of offenses, including production of forged 500-peseta coins

The police have seized 8,000 forged coins in the operation, as well as another 400 that were in the process of being produced. They also found a number of molds used in the production of the fake currency, along with tools, lathes, gas canisters and presses.

The detainees have criminal records for a number of offenses, including the production of forged 500-peseta coins (worth €3) before the introduction of the euro.