NATCHEZ — A house in Baton Rouge might soon get some unwelcome visitors.

At least eight counterfeit $100 bills have been passed to businesses, and Natchez Police Lt. Craig Godbold said two NPD officers, the Louisiana state police and the U.S. Secret Service, are on their way to the house where they believe the counterfeit is being made.

“What they’re doing is bleaching out a $5 bill, which is on good paper,” Godbold said. “Then they take it and reprint the $100 marker over the top of the $5 marker.”

When businesses use counterfeit detector pens, he said, the mark shows that the bill is real. Since there’s also a watermark, they assume it to be a real $100 bill.

“The minute they see the watermark, they assume it’s good,” Godbold said. “They don’t notice that it’s a Lincoln watermark, and that’s how (counterfeit is) getting by.”

Some $50 bill may also be circulating in the area, he said.

Several area pharmacies did notice a problem and alerted police, Godbold said.

Banks can also instantly tell whether bills are counterfeit, because they have validating machines, he said.

The police department arrested Bevan O. Smith, 29, 1806 Soft Brightside View, Baton Rouge, and Ulysses Morgan, 33, 1935 North 15th St., Baton Rouge, Tuesday — the same day Godbold said they are believed to have arrived in Natchez.

“We got a clothing description and vehicle description of what the suspects were supposedly driving,” he said. “We had a patrol car search the area where they were last reported.”

When officers located the vehicle, Godbold said, they began to search the stores nearby, and they were able to catch one of the men leaving a store.

The arresting officers passed the information along to the Secret Service, he said, and that’s when they found out the Secret Service had been actively looking for the two men.

Godbold said the two men aren’t necessarily believed to be in charge of the operation, which is why the house in Baton Rouge is being investigated.

“Once we had them in custody, during our interview we found out where they lived,” he said. “With the assistance of the Secret Service, we were able to gain the information (about the house).”

If an individual comes in contact with a counterfeit bill and a store or a bank recognizes it as counterfeit but does not notify authorities, Godbold said, the individuals could be considered suspects. But a lot of times, he said, a person will legitimately get a counterfeit bill by accident and not realize it. It’s important that stores make sure the watermarks actually match the pictures on the bills, he said.