Secret Service, DA’s office confiscate counterfeit bills

BROWNSVILLE — Secret Service agents along with local authorities arrested a San Benito man after they confiscated $1,000 worth of counterfeit $10 bills during a bust on Monday, authorities said.

Roland Mario Juarez, 25, was arrested by federal agents who were working in conjunction with San Benito police detectives, Precinct 2 Constables and the Cameron County District Attorney’s Special Operations Group, officials said.

Juarez faces federal counterfeit charges, said Liliana Velazquez, spokeswoman for Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos.

Juarez was taken into custody about 1:45 p.m. while at Mi Ranchito Restaurant in the 400 block of Paso Real in San Benito.

“This was an investigation on what is believed to be a home-based organization,” Velazquez said. “So far Juarez has been the only person arrested but there are (additional) arrests pending.”

She said Juarez is accused of producing counterfeit bills, and then going to local businesses and purchasing small items, which included “gum, candy (and) fruit,” she said, “paying with either a (fake) $5 or $10 bill and getting legitimate money back as change.”

Velazquez would not say how the district attorney’s Special Operations Group learned about the bills, and explained that “the details about how it (investigation) began are not being released.”

She said investigators in the case believe Juarez may have made more counterfeit bills, however, that could not be proved as of Tuesday afternoon.

“What we were able to seize during the arrest was $1,000. It was 100 $10 bills (that) totaled $1,000,” Velazquez said. “Also, the laptop and the printer, which we believe he was using to make the (bills), and three vehicles.”

It is unusual for a local person to make counterfeit bills, she said. “The District Attorney’s Office has dealt with this type of crime before, but the counterfeit money usually comes from overseas.”

The District Attorney’s Office is urging local vendors, merchants and concerned residents to be alert when dealing with money, especially in the San Benito area, Velazquez said.

Juarez was being held in federal custody Tuesday night at the Carrizalez-Rucker Detention Center in Olmito. U.S. Magistrate Judge John William Black set bond a $10,00 during a Tuesday afternoon initial appearance hearing. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Monday in Black’s courtroom.