Traders in the municipalities of Licey, Tamboril and Santiago as well as other areas in the northern regions of the country have been cheated over the last few days with counterfeit bills of different denominations.
According to reports, some people were cheated with RD$500, RD$200, RD$1000 and RD$2000 fake currency.
Food Wholesalers Association (Amaprosan) president Jose Reynaldo Bautista said that the people most affected by this type of trick are owners of small businesses like colmados.
Some of the counterfeit money had been put into circulation in early November by members of the El Mayembu Gang, whose main leaders were arrested at the end of last month by the National Police with dozens of fake 500, 1000, and 2000 peso bills.
The persons arrested were indicted and sent to protective custody, according the spokesman for the Central Cibao Regional Command, Colonel Jesus Cordero Paredes.
One victim who was paid with fake RD$2000 bills was Jose Santana who owns a small store in La Otra Banda in the south of Santiago.
According to investigators, the false RD$200 peso bills are very difficult to detect because the material that they use is a RD$100 peso bill with the color changed.