Booty to the Top Bidder

Avid curio seekers have always flocked to Government auctions. Selling everything from Army canteens to abandoned lighthouses, the General Services Administration offered myriad bizarre bargains. Increasingly, however, the GSA has turned to fancy real estate brokering. Starting Oct. 22, the GSA will hold a series of auctions in Florida to dispose of prime property that once belonged to some of the state's most self-indulgent drug kingpins; estimated value: over $6 million.

The Government's glossy brochure offers 19 different sites. There is the high-tech Xanadu in Fort Lauderdale, with poolside bar and five bathrooms with French bidets. Other bidders may prefer a six-bedroom oceanfront estate in Vero Beach, with orchid ballroom, hand-painted wood floors and swimming pool; the cunning security system permits leisurely monitored strolls across the seven-acre compound. The GSA, which placed discreet ads in major newspapers in the U.S. and abroad, has received inquiries from as far away as Europe and China. Says GSA Officer Howard DeVane: "They all know a good deal when they see one."