By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

          LIMA, Peru (AP) -- For a glimpse of the shadowy world of fugitive
          ex-spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos, Peruvians were taken through a
          secret tunnel leading to an escape hatch under his bathtub.

          From there, Peru's Panamericana Television broadcast an exclusive tour
          Sunday night of the spymaster's luxury beach house in Lurin, a Pacific
          coast resort town 22 miles south of Lima.

          The house -- hidden behind high windowless walls topped with
          protective electrified wires -- was raided earlier this month by police
          searching for the elusive intelligence adviser. It was Montesinos' reputed
          web of corruption that led to President Alberto Fujimori's downfall after
          a decade of authoritarian rule.

          The dusty treeless streets outside the home belied an opulent setting,
          replete with wood panel doors reinforced with armor plating, a portable
          satellite phone in the master bedroom, and hidden cameras in the guest
          suites and inside a stereo speaker by the indoor pool.

          Before going into hiding, Montesinos reportedly made copies of some
          2,500 video and audio recordings that presumably incriminate politicians,
          military leaders and businessmen.

          Since his return last month from a failed asylum bid in Panama, he has
          remained Peru's most wanted man. He faces criminal complaints ranging
          from directing death squads and torture to laundering money from
          narcotics trafficking.

          Rumors abound that he has already left Peru and is in hiding in Bolivia or
          Paraguay.

          But Francisco Loayza, a former intelligence agent who has written a
          book about Montesinos called ``The Dark Face of Power,'' said
          Monday he believes the ex-spy chief is still in Peru.

          ``With complete certainty, the best place to hide for Montesinos right
          now is Peru. Why? Because of bountiful information that he has on a lot
          of people,'' Loayza said. ``I believe he has a high number of documents
          that serve as instruments of coercion and blackmail and therefore he is
          probably in the process of moving from house to house.''

          Montesinos was once Fujimori's closest adviser and viewed by many
          Peruvians as even more powerful than the former president. Montesinos
          was forced underground after the broadcast in September of a videotape
          snatched from his collection showing him in the apparent act of bribing a
          congressman.

          Allegations followed that he had laundered more than $48 million in
          Swiss bank accounts, and at least $10 million more in banks in New
          York, Uruguay, Luxembourg, and the Cayman Islands.

          Montesinos' official salary was about $370 per month, about three times
          the monthly minimum wage of $117 -- a benchmark that half the
          population living in poverty fails to earn.

          The broadcast images gave a hint of how Montesinos spent at least some
          of his fortune to ensure that an escape route would always be available.

          He installed a pink bathtub that when lifted revealed a tunnel leading
          under the house to a secret hatch under a plant bed located in the garage
          of another home.

          Another secret hatch leading into the underground tunnel was discovered
          by the indoor pool.

          Fujimori fired Montesinos in September and said he would step down
          next year after new elections. But Congress ousted Fujimori from office
          last week, declaring him morally unfit for the presidency and ignoring his
          resignation offered from self-imposed exile in Japan.

          The scandal involving Montesinos has spread to Switzerland, and Swiss
          authorities said Tuesday that $48 million in Swiss bank accounts that they
          say is linked to the spymaster likely came from payments of commissions
          on arms deals between Peru and Russia. The accounts are frozen.

          In a statement from the Zurich district attorney's office, officials also said
          they had found -- and frozen -- another $22 million from the arms deals.
          They did not explicitly link the funds to Montesinos, but to the deals.

          Meanwhile, Japanese officials said Tuesday that the government has not
          yet determined whether Fujimori holds citizenship from Japan, from
          where his parents emigrated. They added that he would be permitted to
          stay in Japan for the time being.