ACCRA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The Ghanaian security service busted a 13-member gang allegedly involved in a fake currency racket in the country, the National Security Secretariat said Monday.

The suspects, who allegedly mingled genuine notes of U.S. dollars with fake ones to dupe their unsuspecting victims, were rounded up within a warehouse of Kotoka International Airport with bundles of fake 100-dollar bills concealed in two large metal trunks and a suitcase, the secretariat said in a statement.

The security service estimated each bundle of fake notes to be worth 10,000 dollars, and the total amount involved to be more than 5 million dollars, it said.

"According to our intelligence, the group lures unsuspecting victims with claims that they have access to millions of dollars in Libya. Victims are then given genuine sums of dollars to spend for free, as proof of the genuineness of the deal," it said.

"Once the victims are convinced, they are requested to deposit huge sums of U.S. dollars as freight charges to aid the shipment of the said dollars to the victims. Upon receipt of the amount, the suspects package fake dollars stashed in between a few hundreds of genuine notes, for onward delivery to their victims," it said.

"Investigations continue to identify other suspects associated with the fraudulent operations as well as the victims," it added. Enditem

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