Turkish officials seize fake dollar notes worth $271 mln

Nearly $271 million worth of fake banknotes have been confiscated in a printing press in Instabul, Turkey.

Turkish officials on Thursday raided premises of the printing press where the fake currencies were being printed.

Stacks of $100 banknotes were found by police and anti-crime and smuggling officials during the search at the Esenyurt neighborhood.

Police five arrested. It said among those arrested, was one who had earlier been dismissed from the police force for suspected membership of a network.

Ankara blames the network for orchestrating a failed military coup in 2016.

Ankara accuses U.S-based Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen of masterminding the attempted coup in July, 2016. He denies any involvement.

Turkish authorities were searching for more suspects and were investigating whether the money was connected to Gulen’s network.