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An overseas traveler who entered the country in Hawaii last week is in custody at the federal detention center on charges of possessing and attempting to import 1,257 phony $100 bills.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials arrested Craig Steven Hines at Honolulu Airport on Friday and then turned him over to the U.S. Secret Service. He was later charged. Hines arrived in Honolulu from Taipei.
The Secret Service said Hines listed on his customs declaration form that he was bringing back into the United States oolong tea and chocolate. When customs officials examined his checked luggage, they found 1,256 suspected phony $100 bills. They found another suspected phony $100 bill in his wallet.
A Secret Service special agent who examined the suspect bills said they did not have the inscribed and embedded security thread, microprinting or embedded red and blue fibers. The special agent also said the bills were not printed using the same kind of advanced printing press used to mint genuine U.S. currency.
