Mexico To Auction Seized Luxury Cars, Assets To Help Poor

Mexico will auction off scores of luxury cars, homes and other assets seized from criminals, in order to raise money for the poor.

At a news conference Tuesday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the proceeds from the sale of the luxury cars - including Porsches, Mercedes-Benzes, a Mustang convertible and a 2007 Lamborghini Murcielago - will be used to aid the poor.

The president added the first auction is scheduled to take place Sunday and will be conducted by the newly launched "Institute to Return What Has Been Robbed to the People.” The auction will take place at Los Pinos, the former presidential residence, which the president has renounced and which has since been converted into a cultural center.

"Everything that is seized from criminals will now be given to communities, especially the country's poor communities," he said.

Ricardo Rodriguez, the head of the new institute, said 77 vehicles will be auctioned Sunday, with a total price of around $1.5 million.

“Before, this worked like a reverse Robin Hood... taking from the people and giving to the corrupt. Not anymore,” he said, adding, "Now the president's instructions are to give back to the people, the legitimate owners of these resources.”

Rodriguez added that seized homes and jewelry will seek bids in separate auctions.

The registration charges to participate in the auctions will be around $5 and the proceeds from the sale of the vehicles will go to two poor municipalities in the southern state of Oaxaca. On the other hand, the proceeds from the sale of homes and jewels will go to rehab centers and poor towns in Guerrero, a state where people struggle to make ends meet by growing opium poppies.

Rodriguez said not all the assets were seized from drug lords, and one of the homes belonged to a former politician.

The 65-year-old Lopez Obrador, widely known as "AMLO," took office in December with a promise to “transform” Mexico and went on to give up 60 percent of his salary, a jet and presidential bodyguards. Since taking office, Lopez Obrador has cut the salaries for top civil servants, saying he was saving public money by eliminating corruption.