An anonymous source informed Syrian publication "Media River" that a group of drug and weapon smugglers, were dealing with foreign currency, especially large sums of the USD. Reports say they traded the fake bills for a lower value than the market, claiming they were out of circulation by the banks. The source confirmed that the group were able to con a group of people in Eastern Syria, one of the by the name "Hassan" who traded $370,000 USD to find out they were counterfeit and unusable. The Iraqi smuggler gang is affiliated with Iranian militias.