Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro signed an emergency decree ordering the country’s largest banknote, the 100 bolivar bill, taken out of circulation to thwart mafias he accused of hoarding cash in Colombia.

The announcement came yesterday as the government of Venezuela, a country in the midst of an economic crisis and crippled with the world’s highest inflation,prepares to
issue new banknotes and coins in values up to 200 times the
highest denomination currently available.

The President said yesterday on his TV show Contact with Maduro that in accordance with my constitutional powers and through this emergency economic decree, I have decided to take the 100 bolivar bill out of circulation in the next 72 hours. Maduro said the move was necessary after a Venezuelan investigation found that billions of bolivars, in bills of 100, were stashed away by international mafias, mainly in Colombian cities but also in Brazil.

Maduro ordered all land, air and sea possibilities closed immediately so that they do not return those notes that were taken