A luxe compound belonging to cartel kingpin Amado Carrillo Fuentes and notorious trafficker El Chapo's safe house are among the extraordinary prizes Mexico's National Lottery has given away as part of its flagship Gran Sorteo Especial competition. Click or scroll through to get the lowdown on these astonishing draws and take a sneaky tour of the most infamous real estate pickings.
After a failed bid in 2020 to raffle off a $130 million (£115m) Boeing 787 bought by one of his free-spending predecessors, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has now set his sights on offering ill-gotten properties seized from drug barons, crooked politicians and other shady individuals as prizes in Mexico's National Lottery.
"Amlo", as he is known, was elected in 2018 on a strident anti-corruption platform, vowing to redistribute wealth misappropriated by Mexico's criminal elite, Robin Hood-style. To make this happen, the humble president, who eschews the trappings of office and drives around in a Volkswagen Jetta, created the Institute to Return Stolen Goods to the People (INDEP).
Needless to say, INDEP has been busily offloading real estate and other spoils impounded by the government. In terms of the properties, some have already been auctioned or repurposed, while others, including several that failed to sell at auction, are being offered as lottery prizes. The 15 September 2021 Gran Sorteo Especial 248 draw featured 22 properties worth $12.5 million (£11m).
Seized properties have featured in three additional draws, the most recent of which was held on 15 September 2022, with tickets costing $25 (£22) a pop, though tickets for the 248 draw back in 2021 were cheaper at $12.50 (£11) each. The proceeds have gone towards everything from funding COVID vaccines, educational scholarships and infrastructure projects to supporting Mexico's Paralympians.
Nicknamed "La Barbie" for his pale, Ken doll-like complexion, Texas-born Edgar Valdez Villarreal rose from a two-bit weed dealer to become one of the bosses of the fearsome Beltrán Leyva Cartel. Responsible for exporting truckloads of cocaine north of the border and sparking a wave of unimaginably brutal gang violence, the ruthless drug lord was captured in 2010 and extradited to the US, where he's serving a sentence of 49 years and one month for narco-trafficking and money laundering.
Captured in this YouTube video, El Paraíso ('The Paradise'), La Barbie's lavish 2.5-hectare ranch in the town of Atlacholoaya south of Mexico City, was confiscated by the authorities a year before the fugitive's arrest. Worth in the region of $3.1 million (£2.7m), the sprawling finca was one of the 22 impounded properties put up as prizes in the Gran Sorteo Especial 248 draw on 15 September 2021.
The drug baron led a flashy lifestyle before his capture, funded, of course, by the vast quantities of cocaine with which he flooded America. La Barbie operated out of his spectacular ranch, which would have been a veritable fortress back in the day. Clearly obsessed with security, the narco trafficker was escorted everywhere by 10 heavily armed bodyguards. Now, let's venture inside the property, as documented in another YouTube tour.
Walking down the ranch's yellow brick road, it's obvious the buildings aren't in the best of states. A shadow of its former self, the ranch was quite the jaw-dropper back in the day, by all accounts. The scene of extravagant parties thrown by the Beltrán Leyva Cartel, the property was packed with fabulous amenities, from two gorgeous lagoon pools to a ballroom, and even a bullring and zoo.
Over to the left is the first of the ranch's two lagoon pools. Like the other structures, the building nearby looks like it could do with a major spruce-up. According to online newspaper Infobae, the buildings were once clad in rustic stone and featured elegant domes along with marble, granite and hardwood flooring, plus other high-end finishes.
There's little sign of the finery these days. The ranch was reportedly stripped of pretty much everything of value following its owner's capture. Members of the cartel are said to have had first dibs. After they made off with the big-ticket items, thieves moved in to purloin what was left, with stone cladding ripped out, bathrooms dismantled and fixtures removed. Even the ranch's copper wiring was purportedly stolen.
Looking out over this courtyard, the abandoned buildings appear especially shabby. Possibly the former gym, the structure in the foreground has lost its canopy and cladding, but the glass and classical columns do remain in situ. In addition to luxe accommodation, the ranch's buildings also housed offices, dining rooms, halls and meeting rooms that served the cartel's elite members.
There's even been speculation the ultimate owner was the cartel's head-honcho, Arturo Beltrán Leyva, rather than La Barbie. From the roof of the building that might have housed the gym, the main lagoon pool can be seen in full effect. Just imagine how it would have looked in the ranch's heyday. But the property's most drug baron-worthy feature was the private zoo.
A zoo filled with exotic animals (preferably dangerous ones) is reportedly an absolute must-have for a senior cartel member—a trend that may have originated in the 1980s with Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar—and it's even said the most merciless gangsters fed captured rival gang members to their pet tigers. This particular zoo housed tigers, a lion, crocodiles, gorillas, zebras and other exotic creatures that were rehomed when the property was seized.
The winner of the ranch, chose to go public, which may not have been the most sensible idea since lottery winners in Mexico have been targeted by cartels and other criminals for their winnings, most shockingly a kindergarten that won $1 million (£889k) in 2020. As might be expected, only one other winner of the Gran Sorteo Especial 248 opted to relinquish their anonymity.
Known by his nickname El Chapo ('Shorty'), Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquín Guzmán was responsible for much of the cocaine, heroin, meth and marijuana smuggled into America in the early 21st century. The ultra-violent cartel's sophisticated operation, which included complex tunnel systems, made Guzmán a billionaire, but justice eventually caught up with him and in 2019 he was sentenced in the US to life imprisonment.
The safe house where El Chapo pulled off an audacious escape in 2014 was one of the most headline-grabbing inclusions in the Gran Sorteo Especial 248 draw on 15 September 2021. Located in the sleepy neighbourhood of Libertad in the Sinoloan capital Culiacán, the modest two-bedroom property is valued at a modest $183,000 (£162k).
It's not hard to see why the house was selected as a hideout for the cartel boss: with that high fence, steel-reinforced door and the bars on the windows, the property is discreet, unassuming and super-secure. The entire property spans 2,800 square feet, which presumably includes this compact courtyard, the only outside space.
Looking inside, there's a fairly ordinary open-plan living area, with tiled flooring and freshly painted walls. The property sustained damage in 2014 when Mexican marines and DEA agents raided it only to find the drug baron, who was on the run, had mysteriously disappeared. Due to the damage and the fact it had been abandoned for seven years, the authorities fixed up the pad in 2021 prior to the lottery draw.
While the kitchen looks dated, the room is in good shape. There's a working cooker and extractor hood, shiny black cabinetry and what appear to be new taps. The tiling does however look like it could do with grouting or, even better, removing completely, so it can be replaced with something more contemporary.
Curiously, there's no bath in the home's sole bathroom. Where you might expect to find a bath there is, instead, a raised tiled feature that serves absolutely zero purpose. It's not like the space is a wet room, and in any case there's no shower unit. Anyone viewing the property is bound to wonder about this weird bathroom.
It turned out the tub had originally been hiding a secret tunnel connected to the local sewage system. El Chapo had it fitted with a hydraulic system, meaning the bath could be raised in next to no time to provide access to the tunnel. It was via the tub that El Chapo escaped, together with his personal secretary, mistress and a maid, that fateful night in 2014 when Mexican marines and DEA agents moved in on the property.
As revealed by El Chapo's lover at his US trial in 2019, the trio snuck into the tunnel when law enforcement were breaking down the steel-reinforced front door with a battering ram. They literally had seconds to make their escape and the drug baron didn't even have time to put on clothes, which must have made traipsing through the stomach-churning sewers beyond disgusting.
The group resurfaced in this drainage canal, where they were picked up by a cartel member. El Chapo was apprehended days later, but managed to evade the law yet again in 2015 when he escaped from Altiplano maximum security prison, again through a secret tunnel. But the cartel leader's luck ran out and he was recaptured six months down the line and handed over to the Americans.
Known as El Señor de los Cielos ('The Lord of the Skies') on account of the large fleet of Boeing jets he used to traffic narcotics, Amado Carrillo Fuentes seized control of the Juárez Cartel in 1993. The powerful drug baron went on to make billions before his death in 1997 as a result of botched cosmetic surgery, which he'd reportedly undergone in an attempt to dupe the cops and evade justice.
Chillingly, the bodies of the doctors who performed the unfortunate surgery were later found encased in concrete. As well as the fleet of jets, Carrillo owned an impressive array of high-end properties, including an Arabian-style palace in Sonora, the 'Casa Versace' in Jalisco, and this luxe compound in Jardines del Pedregal, one of Mexico City's most upscale neighbourhoods.
The swish 10,000-square-foot property is worth $4.5 million (£4m) and was the top prize in the Gran Sorteo Especial 248 draw on 15 September 2021. Months earlier the authorities actually managed to auction the property, which had lain vacant for some two decades, but the sale fell through. Anyway, as it turned out, there was no winning ticket.
The nine-bedroom property was finally won after it was entered into the Gran Sorteo Especial 260 draw on 28 June 2022. The two-storey manse is in much better condition than La Barbie's ranch, which was stripped to the bone. This drug lord lair is in serious need of an update, but remains in remarkable shape given the length of time it's remained empty. Just check out the atrium entry for instance.
The enormous chef's kitchen is a time-warp straight out of the 1990s, but it still looks pristine and has clearly been well looked after. In fact, one of the reasons the authorities decided to offload the seized properties was to save on maintenance costs. Keeping them shipshape doesn't come cheap and makes for a drain on public funds.
Moving on, the next room in this little tour of the manse is the snazzy bar, which has its very own capacious wine cellar. The bar itself is extra-blingy, with gold and black lacquered finishes. Ostentation was certainly not in short supply when the luxury-loving Lord of the Skies was in residence.
The sprawling abode boasts several wings, all of which are surrounded by landscaped gardens. Along with the nine bedrooms, a chef's kitchen and bar, the manse rocks a library, steam room and six Jacuzzis, among other desirable amenities. Carrillo really didn't scrimp with this tricked-out place.
Adding to the manse's splendour is its indoor pool, which is housed in the glass-walled building. The mosaic tiling looks like it could do with a deep clean in places, but apart from that, the pool is in great condition considering its age and scant use during the past 20 years or so.
One wing of the property has dazzling floor-to-ceiling glass windows and ornate columns, with a kooky cottage-like structure jutting out into the corner of the garden. This unusual edifice is actually the life-sized playhouse Carrillo built for his children.
A world away from the innocent days when he would have played in the cute cottage, one of Carrillo's sons went on to meet a violent end in 2020 when he was killed by gunmen. His death occurred amid an increasingly bloody turf war between rival cartels in the region.
Other prizes offered in the raffles are in somewhat better shape. Among the 22 properties up for grabs in the Gran Sorteo Especial 248 draw on 15 September 2021 was a 2,690-square-foot apartment in this beachfront block in the glam resort city of Acapulco. Located in the city's exclusive Zona Dorada ("Golden Zone"), it is valued at almost $596,000 (£530k).
The apartment in the sought-after Goleta building is finished to a high standard and offers the most breathtaking views of Acapulco Bay and the sweeping Avenida Costera Miguel Alemán. The winner must be loving their new beach home, which, unlike the Carillo mansion, is a cinch to maintain.
This 8,070-square-foot villa was another of the prizes offered in the September 2021 Gran Sorteo Especial draw. Situated within a golf club in the coastal town of Ixtapa Zihuatanejo in southern Mexico's Guerrero state, the vacation home features a kidney-shaped pool and is worth around $125,000 (£110k).
The best box in Mexico City's iconic Azteca Stadium was the quirkiest prize featured in the Gran Sorteo Especial 248 draw. The rights to use Box A-37 until 2065 were purchased rather brazenly by the National Lottery in 1984 and it was offered over the years as a perk for officials and their families. The lease on the plum box, which seats 20, has a value of about a million dollars.
Incredibly, the box was won by a Mr Luis Antonio Beltrán Leyva who, despite his surname, insists he has nothing to do with the infamous cartel La Barbie was a part of. Following the win, Beltrán Leyva told reporters he doesn't actually like football and would be donating the million-dollar prize to a school for children with disabilities.
Three of the Gran Sorteo Especial draws featuring confiscated property have included controversial plots of land in a failed tourist development in Playa Espíritu, Sinaloa. Among 200 other lots, Gran Sorteo Especial 252 on 5 December 2021 featured a stunning beach house valued at $1.5 million (£1.3m).
A further 200 lots of varying sizes were offered in the Gran Sorteo Especial 260 draw in June 2022. And eight massive macro lots were up for grabs in the most recent Gran Sorteo Especial on 15 September 2022. The most valuable properties featured in these extraordinary draws, the eight lots are each worth between $10 million (£8.9m) and $14 million (£12.8m).
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