News

Man held with fake US dollars

WESTERN BUREAU

A ST. JAMES man who was stopped and searched by the police along Gloucester Avenue in Montego Bay on Tuesday is now facing a charge of possession of counterfeit money after US$3,100 was found in his pockets.

Desmond Geary, 36, a labourer of Hurlock district in St. James, was allegedly found with 31 fake US$100 bills (J$189,100).

"This is the largest quantity of counterfeit notes that has been recovered in the parish since the start of the year. The notes bore 22 different serial numbers," Constable Peter Salkey, a Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) officer, told THE STAR.

Searched by cops

The CCN officer reported that Geary was seen at 1:30 a.m. walking on Gloucester Avenue, popularly known as the western city's Hip Strip, when he was stopped and searched by members of the Montego Bay Motorised Patrol Unit.

Last December, the Montego Bay police recovered $55,500 in Jamaican counterfeit notes, made up of fifty-five $1,000 bills and a $500 bill, which they said bore a striking resemblance to the original notes. No arrests were made.

At that time, the police had urged the public to be cautious, as efforts were being made to copy certain features like the security thread, and that counterfeits were being manufactured from an inferior material and were not highly resistant to water and moisture.

In January 2003, Senior Superintendent Newton Amos, then commanding officer for St. James, promised a tough crackdown on counterfeiters in the parish.

His comments followed a police search of a house in Norwood, St. James, where a computer that they alleged was being used to manufacture the notes was confiscated.

They also reported that four letter-size sheets with a $100 note and five letter-size sheets with counterfeit $100 notes on a scanner were found. The search was conducted after its occupant was held at a Montego Bay cambio with a pouch containing a quantity of fake $500 and $1,000 notes.