Alert Pharmacist Catches Dutch Counterfeiters in Mechelen: “They Pay With Fake €50 Notes”

An alert pharmacist in Mechelen helped police arrest three Dutch nationals suspected of using counterfeit €50 notes.

The incident began when a man entered a pharmacy on Nekkerspoelstraat and tried to pay for a small roll of medical tape, worth only a few euros, with a €50 note. The pharmacist recognized it as fake and confronted him. The man immediately left the shop, after which a pharmacy employee alerted police.

Officers searched the area and spotted a person matching the suspect’s description in a car parked on the same street. Two other people were inside. A search found 34 counterfeit €50 notes and €1,241 in cash. Investigators also learned that the group had earlier used a fake note at a chip shop on Nekkerspoelstraat.

Further inquiries linked the suspects to nine similar counterfeit-money cases across Flanders. The suspects are a 42-year-old woman and two men aged 32 and 50, all Dutch nationals. The investigating judge ordered the two men held. The woman was released.

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They pay with fake €50 notes.