HOME SEIZED FROM DRUG SMUGGLER AUCTIONED OFF FOR NEARLY $1 MILLION

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) - A home seized from a convicted drug smuggler
was a hot auction item, selling for $870,000.

About 100 bidders crammed the five-bedroom home on Friday for the U.S.
Treasury Department auction.

The 3,352-square-foot house, nestled on three acres of land on the

scenic Conejo Road, has a guest house and dramatic views of the surrounding
hills. It was valued on the open market at about $1 million.

Bidding started at $400,000. Businessman Tom Parsai of Montecito was the
winner with his $870,000 bid.

"I was looking at other homes and couldn't find anything for this price,"
said Parsai, 48. He owns two other properties in Santa Barbara and has
lived in the area since 1972.

Parsai said he wasn't sure whether his family would live in the house or
use it as an investment.

The former homeowner is serving a 17-year sentence for smuggling more than
600 pounds of cocaine from Mexico to Ventura County.

Federal asset forfeiture laws allow agencies to seize and auction property
that is purchased through illegally earned money