This is the cash and carry moment a forgery gang churning out tens of millions in fake US dollars is shut down by police.

The fakes factory in a quite suburban house in Istanbul, Turkey, was shut down by police on 29th May after a painstaking investigation into the counterfeiting gang.

Police siezed suitcases full of counterfeit banknotes, a printing press, specialist paper, cutting machines and inks in the raid.

Evidence video footage shows stacks of USD 100 bills, SAR 500 Saudi Arabian notes and Egyptian currency packed into the luggage.

Police confiscated fake banknotes with a face value of nearly USD 152 million (GBP 112 million) in the operation.

Five foreign nationals were arrested and are now facing charges of printing and distributing counterfeit currency and forming an oranised crime group.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said: "In the operations we conducted yesterday against the crime of 'Counterfeiting Money' in Istanbul, we seized approximately TRY 4.5 billion [GBP 84 million] worth of counterfeit currency."

He added: "Five foreign nationals were apprehended during the operations."

The raid was carried out by Istanbul Provincial Gendarmerie Command with the Buyukcekmece Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

Specialist teams from the Anti-Smuggling and Organised Crime Department were also involved in the op.

Turkey's strategic location of the threshold of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East makes it a natural hub for counterfeit operations.

The investigation is ongoing.

(MJ Leidig/newsX)