Dubai Police arrested three Iranians who smuggled large sums of fake dirham notes, some of which have already been circulated through changers.

Police said the three confessed to have brought the 500-dirham notes from abroad and that they have issued an arrest warrant against a fourth person they said was supplying the three men with the notes from another country.

An employee at an exchange shop in the emirate discovered the fake notes when one of the defendants tried to change Dh100,000 to euros.

He phoned the police, who came and arrested the man. They then used the culprit to trap and seize his two accomplices.

“The employee noticed there was only a slight difference between those notes and the original dirham notes, so he phoned the police,” said Brigadier Khalil Al Mansoori, director of the criminal investigation department.

He told Emarat Al Youm daily that large sums were seized with the other two defendants, who also confessed that they have succeeded in changing some of the counterfeit notes to other currencies.

Mansoori said police raiding the defendants’ house did not find any forgery machines and that all the fake money had been supplied by a fourth Iranian residing in another country. He said police had issued an arrest warrant against that defendant but did not specify his whereabouts.

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