Police said today they have seized boxes stashed with fake United States government bonds with a total face value of 875 billion dollars being smuggled through a domestic airport.

Three Malaysians, aged 24 to 45, were arrested in two separate incidents last week as they tried to board flights to Kuala Lumpur from Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, city police chief Azizan Abu Taat told AFP.

He said initial investigations showed the men obtained the counterfeit US Federal Reserve Bonds, which have a face value of a billion dollars each, from the Philippines. No other details were available.

International smuggling ring?

"So far, there are no indications that the men are part of an international smuggling ring but we are still investigating," he said, adding that they would likely be charged with possession of forged currency notes, an offence which carries a jail sentence of up to 10 years.

US government bonds have usually been issued in dominations of 1,000 to one million dollars.