ROSIE O'DONNELL BUYS NEW HOME

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) Heard the buzz about Rosie O'Donnell's dream house?

With her deal to buy Madonna's South Florida mansion now collapsed,
the talk show host has settled for other digs that authorities say
once housed a commune for a 70-ton marijuana smuggling ring.

O'Donnell spent $6.75 million for the five-bedroom home on Star
Island, which is also home to Gloria and Emilio Estefan and German
developer Thomas Kramer. Built in 1923, it has a guest cottage, maid's
quarters and pool.

This is the same house from which the now defunct Zion Coptic Church
ran a massive marijuana trafficking ring in the 1970s. In a 1979 trial,
church members showed up in crimson robes and green-and-gold uniforms.

Prosecutors contended the colorful church was a cover for a huge
smuggling operation and members smoked marijuana as a sacrament.