$70m in cash seized in Columbia

Colombia's Defence Minister says authorities have seized enormous sums of drug money in police raids.

US$29 million ($39 million) and €17 million ($31 million) in cash was seized in a home in a poor district south of the capital, Bogota.

The official, Rodrigo Rivera, says the money belonged to drug traffickers including Daniel "El Loco" Barrera. Authorities are offering a US$2.7 millon reward for Barrera's capture.

Rivera says authorities have now seized more than US$140 million in cash in the past month in an operation involving the co-operation of United States customs officials.

Officials say several billion dollars in bulk cash is smuggled into Colombia annually by traffickers. They say most of it arrives by shipping container.