DRIVING : Exotic Cars: a Perk at DEA

Owing to the obscene wealth of forfeiters, enforcement of drug forfeiture laws is rather like shopping at Tiffany and Sotheby’s. For free.

Agents have confiscated beachfront homes in Malibu and mansions in Beverly Hills. Russian President Boris Yeltsin learned a new wrinkle in federal funding last week when he and President Bush cruised aboard a 63-foot yacht seized from cocaine dealers.

Recently the Drug Enforcement Administration grabbed a 1948 Tucker. Forfeited by its owner, a San Diegan who pleaded guilty to drug charges, the car is one of 49 sedans made by the late Preston Tucker. Silver, pristine, it is estimated to be worth $250,000.

Tucker was lionized in a 1988 film of the same name. So were his 120-m.p.h. cars that featured rear-mounted flat-six helicopter engines and electric gear shifting.

With cars the extravagant symbols of criminal trades, DEA warehouses will always have the look of exotic car collections.

Past confiscations have included Ferraris, DeLoreans, Mercedes, Rolls-Royce convertibles and a prized Cobra sports car worth an estimated $500,000. The federal government can keep them for undercover work or auction them.

Agent Ralph Lochridge said the high value of exotic cars adds much to DEA’s profit-loss picture. Last year, he said, DEA confiscations were valued at $1 billion--exactly double the agency budget.

Property seized by the 120-agent Los Angeles office represented an income of $1 million per agent.

“Too bad we’re not on commission,” Lochridge says.