A two-year investigation started with the arrest of a Toronto man whose pockets were filled with transit tokens.

This week the probe ended with the bust of a Canada-U.S. counterfeiting operation that made fake Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) tokens.

According to The Toronto Star, Alfredo Beason, 49, Reginald Beason, 47, and Alexander Beason, 36, all of Toronto, are facing a list of charges that include:

• Conspiracy to commit an indictable offence
• Fraud over $5,000
• Attempt to bring into Canada property obtained by crime

Andrea Dawson, 30, also of Toronto was charged in Niagara Falls, New York, with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, The Star reported.

A large number of token distributors, believed to number between 20 to 30, are also facing charges.

Five million fake TTC tokens were recovered in what has been the transit system's most damaging attack yet from counterfeiters.

"It may have cost us $10 million, but we have stopped the bleeding," TTC chairman Howard Moscoe said Friday.

The quality of the fakes was so high it was difficult for even the TTC to tell the difference.

"When we went to our own mint, we asked them of the quality and they even had to do their own investigation to make certain they hadn't produced them," General Manager Rick Ducharme said Friday.

This is the biggest counterfeiting bust in the TTC's history and the third exposed in the past two years.

Counterfeits were so widespread in Toronto that the TTC will introduce a redesigned token later this year. It will be the first change since the subway token was introduced in March 1954.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Buffalo, New York, became involved in the investigation. Working with FBI agents, they uncovered the cross-border counterfeiting ring.

FBI officials say the tokens were made by a Massachusetts company which makes other tokens and casino chips. Authorities say it is unlikely that the company knew the tokens were being made illegally.

With a report from CTV's Desmond Brown and files from The Canadian Press