MEXICO CITY – The military seized US$26.2 million in cash believed to belong to members of the Sinaloa drug cartel – the second largest such discovery in Mexico's history – an official said Thursday.

Soldiers found the money stashed in carton boxes at a house in Culiacan, capital of the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa, said Defense Department official Gen. Luis Oliver.

The soldiers, who raided the house on Sept. 14 after seeing a man hide a gun inside, also seized 2.3 kilograms (5 pounds) of marijuana, two guns and ammunition.

The man fled along with two others, and no one was arrested.

Oliver said documents found in the house named a member of a gang allegedly led by Ismael Zambada, an associate of suspected Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquin Guzman.

Oliver said the cash seizure was the second largest in Mexican history. The biggest was in March 2007 when police seized US$207 million linked to a trafficking ring for pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in methamphetamine.

Since taking office in 2006, President Felipe Calderón has deployed more than 25,000 soldiers and police across Mexico in an effort to root out powerful drug gangs.

Despite stepped up raids and the arrest of top drug lords, homicides and shootouts have surged across Mexico, as gangs battle each other for trafficking routes and stage increasingly brash attacks against police.