Organised criminal gangs from Bulgaria, Colombia and Nigeria are flooding the Costa del Sol with counterfeit Euro notes, Spanish media reported Sunday.

Most of the gangs involved are from these three countries, according to the head of the Financial Crime section of the UDEV specialist police unit, Juan Titos.

He is quoted in the La Opinion de Málaga newspaper saying that the notes are put into circulation, bit by bit, and that his unit has broken up half a dozen gangs over the last few months.

The false notes are usually passed on to a series of people who spend the notes at face value, having previously purchased them in bulk for as little as 5% of that amount