COUNTERFEIT economy

The London Independent ran a great piece yesterday on the saga of the high-quality counterfeit $100 dollar bills known as the Superdollar (read here). Former top-IRA man Sean Garland, currently battling extradition to the United States, was a key figure in a plot to pass the notes off in Europe, according to the indictment from the US Secret Service. The Indie's article gives a real sense of the well-connected and vibrant parallel economy beavering away in the background, funding all sorts of illegal activity. The illicit economy runs from the fake watch salesmen at tourist haunts to the supply of heavy weapons to drug cartels and rogue states.