Need a Slightly Used, Narco Boss–Owned Ferrari? Colombia Has a Deal for You!

Three Ferraris belonging to the alleged financial mastermind of a Colombian drug cartel are going to be auctioned off by the Colombian government. The proceeds will go “back to the people.” 

The Ferraris are part of a total of 30 supercars—including 14 Ferraris—that were seized from Juan José Valencia, known as “Falcón,” who is the alleged financial strategist of the Clan del Golfo, Colombia’s biggest criminal organization, according to the Colombian authorities. 

Valencia was extradited to the U.S. on July 27, after being arrested at his house in May last year on money-laundering charges, accused of managing millions of dollars for Dario Antonio Úsuga “Otoniel”, Clan del Golfo’s top boss, who was also recently extradited to the U.S. 

The Colombian government will open the auction for the Ferraris on Oct. 25. The lowest starting bid was set at just over $40,000, according to the auction webpage. 

The first Ferrari on the list is a red 2020 812 Superfast with less than 2,000 miles on it. The second is a silver 2019 488 Spider with less than 1,000 miles of use, and the last is a white 2019 Ferrari Portofino with 1,000 miles on it. 

The victors of the auction will be announced by the Colombian government on Oct. 16. 

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who entered office in August and has a more progressive approach to the nation’s drug-trafficking problem than his predecessors, didn’t specify how the money raised will benefit the nation’s citizens. Petro recently said “all of the goods confiscated by the mafia will go to serve the people.” 

“Mansions, cars, money, jewelry, gold, art and everything else we get [from the drug traffickers] will be used for to social benefit,” he said.

The three Ferraris are part of a large collection of luxury cars seized from Valencia following his arrest. But the authorities said that the majority of the other goods confiscated from him, which include several other luxury cars, jewelry and at least one mansion, will be returned to him after a federal judge made a mistake on his file. Maserati and Mercedes Benz were some of the other brands found among his collected 30 cars, according to the authorities. 

On the grounds of his house, valued at $4 million, Valencia had a professional soccer field, a nightclub, and three swimming pools.

The group that both Valencia and Otoniel ran is the Sinaloa Cartel’s main ally in Colombia for drug trafficking and human smuggling, according to the U.S. government.

President Petro drew comparisons between the upcoming auction and one run by Mexico’s current administration, during which several narco mansions were auctioned. In 2021, massive houses once belonging to of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, former boss of the Sinaloa Cartel, and Amado Carrillo Fuentes, the deceased boss of the Juárez Cartel, were auctioned as part of a campaign to pay for COVID vaccines.

"All of the money raised is going to be delivered to the people and help to buy (COVID-19) vaccines and medicines and to give away some scholarships,” Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said at the time.