The fake currency notes
The National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) has arrested 16 people for allegedly operating counterfeit-currency syndicates from religious and administrative premises in the Greater Accra Region, where large quantities of fake local and foreign currencies were being printed and stored.
The NSCS said some of the syndicates allegedly used the premises as cover for printing and storing counterfeit notes.
The security agency said it recovered $543,000, GH¢196,600 and CFA 60,000 in counterfeit notes that were ready for circulation.
It also seized counterfeit coupons awaiting processing and printing, including $5.29 million, GH¢19.55 million and CFA623.55 million.
In one operation targeting a transnational criminal cell, seven suspects – three Ghanaians and four foreign nationals – were arrested. Three vehicles and $65,900 in counterfeit notes were also seized.
At Amuzu, a suburb of Kasoa, operatives arrested one suspect and seized a currency printing machine, fake gold bars, mobile phones and large quantities of counterfeit currency.
Five suspects were arrested during an operation in Lashibi and Klagon, where investigators said they discovered printing equipment and a storage facility containing large quantities of counterfeit materials.
Another operation at Lakeside Estate resulted in the arrest of a suspected distributor and the seizure of five boxes of counterfeit GH¢200 notes with an estimated face value of GH¢12.42 million, along with two motorcycles.
In a statement, the NSCS revealed that the operations also led to the seizure of four counterfeit-currency printing machines, six vehicles and two motorcycles allegedly used by the syndicates.
The operations, conducted between June 12 and July 24, 2026, followed six intelligence-led swoops targeting networks allegedly involved in the large-scale production, possession and distribution of counterfeit local and foreign currencies.
The NSCS said the operations were carried out after months of covert intelligence gathering into reports of counterfeit currency entering commercial hubs, foreign exchange markets and financial networks.
According to the agency, the syndicates operated through structured networks involving technical printing operators, cross-border facilitators and commercial dispatch riders responsible for transporting counterfeit currency to buyers.
It said all 16 suspects had been remanded into state custody and that case dockets had been submitted to the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice.
Formal prosecution proceedings are ongoing at the Accra High Court, while security agencies continue efforts to locate other suspects identified during the investigations.
The NSCS said prosecutors had also begun processes to seek the forfeiture of vehicles, printing equipment and mobile devices allegedly used in the operations.
The agency urged financial institutions, property owners and administrators of religious facilities to remain vigilant and report suspicious high-volume printing activities and unusual foreign-currency transactions to the security agencies.
By Prince Fiifi Yorke