Suspected Drug Baron Flees, Leaving A Fortune -- Feds Seize $3 Million In Art, Cash, Jewelry In Miami Mansion

MIAMI - From the outside, Hernan Arboleda's $900,000 mansion looks like the others in Miami's exclusive Cocoplum section: luxurious, quietly elegant. The Chicago Bulls' John Salley lives next door.

But inside, in place of the usual high-toned knickknacks and tasteful prints, are objects worthy of a world-class art museum or a spendthrift billionaire: a $500,000 Fernando Botero original oil painting, a $250,000 bronze Botero boa constrictor, two Salvador Dali bronzes, a $217,000 diamond-encrusted Audemars Piaget watch, a $10,000 "child's Cartier" watch meant for the wrist of a 7-year-old girl.

After federal drug agents took a tour of the house last month, they had one question for its 34-year-old Colombian owner.

"What do you do for a living?"

Answer: "That's one of those questions that I'm not going to answer."

That night, Arboleda, his wife, Gloria, and their two young daughters fled Miami, leaving behind about $3 million in material things.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced yesterday that it had seized Arboleda's sumptuous art and jewelry collection, $368,667 in cash discovered in 10 places inside the house and the house itself at 286 Costanera Road.

"He was one of the few traffickers operating here today who continued to be ostentatious," said James Milford, DEA chief in Miami.

The case is titillating and mysterious for several reasons.

First, the Arboledas left town - and their millions in art, cash, jewelry and property - even though they face no criminal charges. Second, drug agents believe Hernan Alberto Arboleda, who had lived in Cocoplum for seven years, was a large-scale independent drug trafficker affiliated with neither Colombian drug cartel.

Most big drug traffickers in Miami these days avoid such ostentatious shows of wealth and act merely as low-key distributors for either the Cali cartel or the remnants of the Medellin cartel.

Another mysterious element: exactly how the DEA got onto Arboleda in the first place.

Drug agents will say only that in the course of a yearlong investigation they "received intelligence," usually code words for a well-placed informant. The intelligence included a detailed accounting of the artistic riches inside the house.

At dawn on May 7, DEA and FBI agents in raid jackets showed up in force on Costanera Road. They were there to execute a search warrant signed by a federal judge.

As they tramped through Arboleda's house, one of the agents noted the large Botero oil hanging on the wall. It was "Mujer Con Sombrero Rojo" (Woman With Red Hat), which was featured on the cover of the program for the 1991 Miami International Art Exposition.

"Hey, what a nice painting," the agent said. "It's a copy," Hernan Arboleda quickly shot back.

But inside the house, agents found documents authenticating the painting as an original.

As they scoured the house, the agents found treasure after treasure. A man's diamond-studded Rolex Presidential watch worth $50,000. A $15,000 silver Italian sculpture of racing horses. A $10,000 Botero print, "The Dancers." Two carved ivory tusks. A gold Van Cleef & Arpels ink pen inscribed with the name "Gloria" in gemstones.

In an unfinished concrete room off the garage were two duffel bags stuffed with cash. One held $200,000, the other $140,000. A Florida Highway Patrol German shepherd named Amadeo sniffed the cash for cocaine. Amadeo went wild, the agents said.

"This is just a small portion of his wealth," Milford said as agents showed off Arboleda's belongings at the press conference. "There's no question in our minds that most of his money is in offshore banks or down in Colombia."

In contrast with his flashy possessions, Arboleda drove a car that was relatively plain: a 1990 Cadillac Seville worth about $11,000.

Real-estate records show that Arboleda bought the five-bedroom, five-bath house for $712,500 in May 1989. He was 27 years old at the time.

When the DEA visited him May 7, the only evidence he produced of a legitimate source of income was a business card indicating he owned an Amoco gasoline service station. The agents say he apparently sold the business years ago.

Inside the house, the DEA agents also found detailed drug ledgers tallying cocaine sales. Agents say Arboleda most likely purchased the cocaine in Colombia for $1,500 a kilogram (2.2 pounds) and transported it to Miami, hidden in shipments of frozen fish on at least one occasion. Here, he was able to sell the cocaine for 10 times what he paid for it.

The search of the house lasted about eight hours. Under civil laws permitting the seizing of assets linked to the drug trade, agents were able to cart off the cash and artwork.

The show of wealth notwithstanding, agents at the time did not have enough evidence to arrest Hernan Arboleda on criminal charges.

Before they left, though, the agents took the Arboledas' passports. That evening, the Arboledas left Miami, agents said.

When the agents returned to the house May 13, they found only the Arboledas' maid, who was packing their remaining belongings to send to the Arboledas' new address, as yet unknown.

The agents say the investigation is continuing with the help of the Colombian National Police. Arboleda is believed to be back in Medellin, where he owns another mansion and another Botero painting worth $1.5 million.