MANAGUA - Nicaraguan police on Sunday seized a large cache of weapons and explosives from suspected members of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel after a police car chase outside Managua, a spokeswoman said.

The weapons included 61 automatic rifles, mostly AK-47's and four M-16s, two grenade launchers, 10 hand grenades, 20 sticks of dynamite and more than 19,000 rounds of ammunition, Vilma Reyes told a press briefing.

They were found inside a car the suspected drug traffickers fled from after being chased by police on the Panamerican highway, outside Managua, she added. The police operation was deemed a success, despite the suspects' getaway, thanks to police and military intelligence work in tracking the movements of the alleged Sinaloa members inside Nicaragua, the spokeswoman said.