MIAMI, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Federal prosecutors said Tuesday the Justice Department is considering trying to extradite an alleged drug smuggler from Spain to Miami.
They said banker and art collector Jose Maria Clemente participated in a drug and money-laundering scheme involving two artworks, one a painting by Spanish master Francisco de Goya.
Clemente was arrested in Barcelona, Spain, last month and is being held in Madrid. Clemente is also wanted in Miami in the same case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Arango said the case is under review by the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs.
She said she didn't know whether the U.S. would seek extradition.
The two paintings by Spanish master Francisco de Goya and impressionist Tsuguhanu Foujita were offered as payment for 4,400 pounds of cocaine.
The paintings were Goya's 1793 El Atraco a La Diligencia and Foujita's 1926 Buste de Jeune Femme. They are believed to be worth $1 million each.
They were confiscated in a New York art warehouse, but an art dealer in Barcelona, Spain, who has not been charged, said she owns the works of art. Drug Enforcement Administration agents still have them in custody.
Among those charged with offering the paintings for payment was Doris Mangeri Salazar of Coral Gables, Fla. She was arrested in July and remains in a Miami jail.
Still wanted on an indictment filed in this country is Nayef Bin Sultan Bin Fawwaz Al-Shaalan, described in the indictment as a Saudi prince.
An affidavit signed by DEA agent Anthony Angell said Al-Shaalan offered to transport drugs for Colombian drug traffickers and a deal was struck. The Colombians had already become DEA informants in an effort to reduce sentences on previous charges and the agency was told of the deal.
The cocaine was shipped to Paris and much of it reached the street. But law enforcement officers seized 1,768 pounds in a Paris suburb and an additional 418 pounds in Spain.
The cocaine lost in the seizures meant there wasn't enough money left to pay the Colombians for the drugs, and the suspects tried to use the paintings as payment, Angell said in the affidavit. The paintings were then confiscated.
Barcelona art dealer Helena de Saro has sued the DEA in New York federal court, saying the United States took her paintings illegally.
She said she bought the paintings in 1989 and 1990 and stored them in Switzerland until last year. The paintings were sent to New York for sale in September and then trucked to south Florida when the sale seemed imminent.
The sale didn't close and the paintings were returned to New York where they were confiscated a few days later.
