Displaying images of huge piles of confiscated bills, officials say criminals have tried to sabotage Venezuela’s economy – at the behest of the US Treasury – by siphoning out bolivars to warehouses in Switzerland, Poland, Ukraine, Spain, Germany and the Czech Republic.

Venezuela closed its border with Colombia on Monday, where the government said 117 people had been arrested and 104m bolivars – $27,000 at the black market rate – confiscated.