STOLEN OSCAR DISCOVERED IN LOCAL DRUG CASE

Federal agents in South Florida struck gold this week -- Oscar
gold.

In a plot twist that marries a Hollywood whodunit with the seaminess
of South Florida's drug trade, FBI agents stumbled upon a stolen Oscar
statuette Thursday.

The long-lost golden boy - one of 55 statuettes stolen just days
before the 2000 Academy Awards from a loading dock in Los Angeles -
was found in Broward County during a narcotics investigation, said FBI
spokeswoman Judy Orihuela.

All but three of the 13-inch statuettes were recovered before the 2000
awards show.

The recent rescue brought relief -- and a few raised eyebrows -- from
the Beverly Hills headquarters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences.

Over the past three years, academy insiders have pondered where and
when their wayward charges might pop up, said Bruce Davis, the
academy's executive director, in a telephone interview.

"We've certainly been keeping a close eye on eBay," he said. "But I
don't remember it ever being suggested a drug sting in South Florida."

But investigators are guarding details of Oscar's rescue with the
tight-lipped vigilance of a PriceWaterhouseCoopers accountant on
awards night.

"I can't really say how it was found, because it would jeopardize the
entire investigation," said Orihuela, adding that agents are
expecting more arrests in the investigation "in the near future."

Even Davis said he is eager to hear the tale of Oscar's journey. "All
I know is that it was a drug bust in the area, and one of the people
had 15 pounds of cocaine and an Oscar," Davis said.

Orihuela wouldn't comment on details of the investigation, which
includes the assistance of Miami-Dade police, but said Davis' account
was not "entirely accurate."

The Hollywood icon is now safely stored in the FBI's evidence room in
North Miami Beach -- along with seized weapons, computers and boxes of
documents.

And the Oscar goes to . . .

Well, back to L.A., as soon as the FBI is done with it, Orihuela
said.

The Academy has already sent over the special plastic foam case used
to transport the statuettes, Davis said.

The other 52 recovered statuettes were found stacked neatly in similar
containers next to a dust bin in Los Angeles' Koreatown nine days
after the batch of unengraved statues went missing.

The junk man who pointed them out to police, Willie Fulgear, got a
$50,000 reward and a trip to the Oscar ceremony. Three men --
including Fulgear's stepbrother -- later pleaded no contest to charges
connected with the thefts.

The whereabouts of the two remaining statuettes, which cost about $400
to manufacture, is still a mystery.

Davis said he is is eager to welcome the recently discovered Oscar
back home -- and was already contemplating a possibly cinematic back
story to the little guy's journey.

"Was it part of a payment? 'I'll give you $4,000 and an Oscar?' How
did it change hands?" he wondered, then added with deadpan certainty:

"If Oscar was involved in a drug bust, I'm sure we can confirm he was
just a hostage."