(MADRID) - Police have dismantled three printing centres in Colombia which made counterfeit US dollars, euros and Colombian pesos and arrested five suspects, Spanish police who took part in the operation said Sunday.

It was the first time that police have dismantled a counterfeit network in Colombia which made fake 20 euro notes along with those of higher denominations, police said in a statement.

"The bills which are normally counterfeited have a face value of 50, 100 or 500 euros and, up until now, the falsification of 20 euro notes has never been detected," it said.

The fake bills were destined to be shipped to Spain and other nations in the euro zone.

More than 80 police officers from Spain, Colombia and Europol were part of the investigation which lasted nearly one year and culminated in 10 searches carried out in Bogota last month and the arrests of five men, all of them Colombian nationals.

Police seized 165,000 euros (227,000 dollars), 6,000 dollars and 1.4 billion Colombian pesos (468,00 euros, 646,000 dollars) in fake bills as well as material to make counterfeit money as part of their operation.

Colombia, the world's biggest producer of cocaine, is a major source of fake dollars and euros.

Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.