Bengaluru, Aug 4 (IANS): Two Africans and an Indian woman have been arrested for possessing Rs 5 lakh worth of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) in the city, following a series of raids on 35 houses even as 27 others were nabbed for not having valid passports and visas, an official said on Tuesday.

"We have conducted early morning raids under four police station limits and arrested two African men and an Indian woman for possessing FICN," Central Crime Branch (CCB) Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Kuldeep Jain told IANS.

Clement, 43, and Okeyfey, 42, from Nigeria, and Vasanthi, a local woman have been arrested for possessing the counterfeit money.

The trio has been arrested under IPC Section 420 for cheating and also under 469.

Police seized plastic boxes containing wads of Rs 500, Rs 2,000, $100 and 50 British pound currency notes.

Along with the currency notes, bundles of black paper sealed in transparent plastic covers have also been found. One tablet and 13 phones have also been seized, out of which four are feature phones.

Similarly, some liquid chemicals in four bottles being used for illegal activities have also been confiscated.

"In addition to fake Indian currency, we also found British pounds and US dollars. We also seized a significant quantity of black paper which they must be using to cheat people, including some chemicals," he said.

Jain said the raids were aimed at checking illegal activities and overstaying complaints in Hennur, Banaswadi and other places where Africans have been living.

Raiding 35 houses, the CCB examined as many as 85 Africans hailing from Congo, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and other countries.

In addition to the fake cash, seven Africans were found without passports and 20 without visas.

The foreigners without valid papers have been booked under the Passport Act.

All the nabbed foreigners will be produced in the court on Tuesday.