Turkish authorities raided a printing press in Istanbul, where nearly $271 million worth of fake banknotes were being printed.
Stacks of counterfeit $100 banknotes were found by police and anti-crime and anti-smuggling authorities during the search in Istanbul’s Esenyurt neighbourhood
Police said among the five people arrested, one had been earlier dismissed from the police force for suspected membership of a network that Ankara blames for orchestrating a failed military coup in 2016.
Ankara has accused U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen of masterminding the attempted putsch in July 2016. He has denied any involvement.
Authorities were searching for two more suspects and were investigating whether the money was connected to Gulen’s network.
