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Colombia Seizes 35 Mln Drls of Drug Money
Colombian police seized on Saturday 35 million US dollars in cash in Bogota in what they described as the biggest blow in the history of fighting against drug trafficking.
The money was hidden in concrete walls and was found as police raided on two apartments in northern Bogota, capital of the Colombia, said the National Police director, General Luis Ernesto Gilibert, to the press.
The money belonged to brothers Victor Manuel and Miguel Angel Mejia Munera, known as the "Twins," who were trying to finance drug dispatchers working abroad for them.
The seizure of 35 million dollars in cash was made in the frame of so-called operation "Horizon III," coordinated by the Colombian Attorney General's Office and the Department Enforcement Administration of the United States. One person was detained in the joint US-Colombian operation.
The money was packed in more than 300 bundles. According to the police, 15 million dollars was hidden behind a bathroom wall in one of the apartments in northern Bogota.
US Ambassador in Colombia Ann Patersson described the operation as an example of joint cooperation in the fight against narcotic trafficking.
Patersson congratulated national and international authorities on the operation's efficiency.
Colombian Vice President and Defense Minister Gustavo Bell said the seizure of drug money will neutralize a large amount of drug trafficking-related crimes.
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