Brussels, 17/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday Europol announced that 309,577 counterfeit Euro notes had been detected to a total value of EUR 16 million. the European Police Bureau, nevertheless, provided assurances that, "the counterfeit phenomenon is not to be overestimated, as the ratio of counterfeit notes found in circulation to approximately 8 billion genuine banknotes in circulation is extremely small". During the first six months of 2003, twelve large print shops producing forged notes were discovered, six of them within the European Union. During the same period, three underground mint shops were dismantled in Italy and Portugal. Europol indicated that the network of criminal groups, based in east European countries was well established and fostered strong working relationships.