BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -
U.S. and Colombian authorities on Sunday found $41 million in bogus U.S. dollars inside a house in Bogota - the largest seizure of counterfeit dollars in Colombia, police said. The commander of the Colombian national police, Gen. Ernesto Gilibert, described the discovery to reporters as an "overwhelming blow" to the counterfeiting industry. Colombia is the world's top producer of phony dollars, responsible for nearly half of the false notes in circulation, authorities said.
U.S. Secret Service agents and Colombian police discovered the fake money packed in boxes in a middle-class neighborhood in the capital, Bogota, said National Police spokeswoman Ligia Escalante.
Police said at least one of the boxes was destined for Ecuador, which now uses the U.S. currency as its own. No one was captured in the raid.
U.S. and Colombian authorities have seized $65 million in false dollars this year in Colombia, Escalante said. Last year, authorities in Colombia found a dollars counterfeiting factory that they believe could have produced more than $1 billion before it was dismantled.
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