( CNN ) -- Italian authorities on Friday arrested eight people in possession of an estimated $ 6 trillion in counterfeit U.S. Treasury bonds , according to Italian paramilitary police and an Italian news agency . The discovery of the fake bonds -- made to look as if they were printed by the U.S. Federal Reserve in 1934 -- came about as part of an investigation into a local mafia association . The arrest order for the alleged criminals was issued by a preliminary investigative judge in the southern Italian city of Potenza , police noted . Italian authorities , working with their Swiss counterparts , learned about the counterfeit bonds by way of eavesdropping on wiretapped phones , police said . The total of $ 6 trillion is more than twice the Italy 's national debt . The Italian news agency , ANSA , reported that the bonds were also discovered `` alongside copies of the Treaty of Versailles rolled inside lead cylinders . '' CNN can not independently verify that account .
NEW : $ 6 trillion is more than twice Italy 's national debt . The bonds were discovered as part of an investigation into a local mafia order . The bond was issued in the southern Italian city of Naples . 8 people arrested after $ 6 trillion in fake U.S. bonds found in Italy .