Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
Three of the six properties seized from drug lord El Chapo have failed to sell after they were put up for auction.
The houses were put up for auction by the Service of Administration and Disposal of Goods (Servicio de Administracion y Enajenacion de Bienes-SAE), commonly known as the Institute for Returning What Was Robbed To The People (Instituto Para Devolverle Al Pueblo Lo Robado).
According to the auction catalogue, six properties seized from drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman were available to buy but only three were sold for a total of 4.3 million MXN (175,264 GBP).
Ricardo Rodriguez, Head of the SAE, denied the houses being linked to Guzman had a role in there being a lack of offers on the unsold properties, saying: “At the end of the day, people decided to buy some houses”.
Rodriguez did not provide a reason for the other properties failing to sell.
One of the most expensive houses up for sale was owned by Griselda Lopez, the former wife of Chapo Guzman and the mother of Ovidio Guzman, who was arrested in a police operation in October and later released due to the wave of violence which hit the city of Culiacan.
The house had a starting price of 11 million MXN (448,351 GBP ) and included luxury furniture and artwork, according to SAE. The property was not sold.
The three houses that were sold are in the city of Culiacan in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. One of them was sold for 2,054,783 MXN (83,751 GBP). The house was reportedly connected through tunnels to the drain system and was used by the drug lord to escape during a police operation against him in 2014.
Another house located in the neighbourhood of Los Pinos was sold for 1,240,000 MXN (50,549 GBP) and the third property on Puerto de Veracruz Street was sold for 1,064,767 MXN (43,399 GBP).
During the auction, which took two hours, a property linked with the Tijuana Cartel in Los Cabos, in the north-western Mexican state of Baja California Sur and was sold for 6,250,000 MXN (254,744.94 GBP). This house was one of the most expensive lots at the auction, along with a Mercedes Benz that was sold for 810,000 MXN (33,014.94 GBP).
The money raised from the auctions will be used to finance music bands for children in the state of Oaxaca.
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