It looks like the dream expat property: a beachfront villa complete with a terrace, garden and swimming pool. But its would-be occupants were no normal expatriates.
Casa Estrella, the Nayarit dwelling in which Saadi Gaddafi, son of the late Libyan dictator, planned to seek refuge was revealed this week.
Just eight meters wide, but 24 meters long, decked out with palm trees, a satellite dish and a fitted barbecue grill, the property seems the perfect retirement home/narco hide-out.
With an estimated value of five million pesos, the house is located on Calle Albatros 17, in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, a fishing village in Bahia de Banderas, close to the upmarket resort of Punta Mita.The plot to smuggle Gaddafi and his family into the country was foiled by Mexican authorities in November. Mexico’s Attorney General admitted last week that a tip off from anarchist hacker group Anonymous led to the arrest of four suspects in Mexico City.
Anonymous sent the authorities two letters, on November 5 and 10, denouncing a Canadian and Dane for working on behalf of terrorist groups and Islamic dictators by falsifying documents and people-smuggling. They were arrested along with two Mexican accomplices on November 10 and 11.