No Buyers For Colombia's Narco Ferrari

Foto archivo, (AP/ Foto archivo)

What should one do when a buyer can't be found for a $250,000 Ferrari taken from a Colombian drug trafficker who now spends his days in a U.S. federal prison?

Take it on a road trip, of course. Colombia's national police, which put the shiny Italian sports car on show Thursday, plans to tour the country before parking it in a police museum.

The 300-horsepower 1991 Ferrari was seized in 2007 from Hernando Gómez Bustamante, alias "Rasguno," or "Scratchy," who is now imprisoned in the United States after pleading guilty to drug trafficking and other crimes committed as a ranking member of the Norte del Valle cartel.

The car had been in possession of the National Drug Office, which was responsible for disposing of seized assets but was shut down in September. Now many seized assets are disappearing without explanation.

The agency's last director, Juan Carlos Restrepo, told The Associated Press he believes it couldn't sell the Ferrari because buyers feared that Bustamante's family might come looking for it and the drug office staff feared that if it fetched a low price at an auction they could be accused of selling the state short.

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Even though it's 20 years old, the pricey speedster wasn't used much by Bustamante, the police said in a statement.

"It only has 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) on it," the statement said.

Based on reporting by the Associated Press.