$205 million seized in Mexican bust
Federal officials have seized US$205.6 million in cash from a luxury house in one of Mexico's most upscale neighborhoods and said Friday they believe the money was tied to the methamphetamine trade.
The federal Attorney General's Office said agents detained seven people. They also seized eight luxury vehicles, seven weapons and a machine to make pills from the home in the Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood, a collection of walled compounds that is home to ambassadors and Mexican business magnates. In addition to the dollars, which were hidden inside walls, suitcases and closets, officials found 200,000 euros and 157,500 pesos.
The statement said it was the largest seizure of drug money ever in Mexico.
At an event in Tijuana, President Felipe Calderon praised the search as further evidence of his nearly nationwide crackdown against drug trafficking. Since taking office Dec. 1, Calderon has sent some 20,000 police and soldiers into drug strongholds to battle drug gangs.
"We have no alternative," Calderon said Friday. "We must act in a decisive manner now or the costs in terms of money and human lives will be much more, and worse still, unrecoverable. We must act now or lose Mexico."
Federal investigators said the search of the Mexico City home was part of an investigation into the company Unimed Pharm Chem de Mexico SA, which allegedly imported from India large quantities of the ingredients needed to make methamphetamines.
The investigation began in December after officials seized 19.5 tons of pseudoephedrine in the Pacific port of Lazaro Cardenas.
Since the U.S. cracked down on the mass sale of cold medicines used to make methamphetamines, Mexico has become one of the world's largest producers of the synthetic drug.
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