Mexico Seizes $206M in Drug Money

Mar 17, 5:52 AM EDT

By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO
Associated Press Writer

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico's attorney general said the $206 million in cash seized from a luxury Mexico City house was connected to one of the hemisphere's largest networks for trafficking pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in methamphetamines.

In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on Friday, Eduardo Medina Mora said the ring had been operating since 2004 and was run by a native of China who had gained Mexican citizenship. The alleged gang leader is in hiding, possibly outside of the country, Medina Mora said.

"This organization had been introducing the illegally imported product to our country and maybe to the United States," Medina Mora said. "There are certainly connections between this group and methamphetamine producers."

Federal agents seized the cash, eight luxury vehicles, seven weapons and a machine to make pills during a raid Thursday at a house in Lomas de Chapultepec, a neighborhood of walled compounds that is home to ambassadors and business magnates. Seven people were arrested.