Zetas Racing Horses Will be Auctioned Off

Hundreds of race horses used by high-level Mexican cartel members to launder millions of dollars in drug money will be auctioned off next month, a judge ruled. About 379 horses, all allegedly bought with dirty money by Zetas cartel leaders to mask their multi-million dollar drug operations, will be sold at auction Nov. 1-3 in Oklahoma City, The Oklahoman reports. The horses are being auctioned by the Internal Revenue Service. In late May, agents raided a sprawling ranch in Oklahoma and a prominent quarter horse track in New Mexico to take down the alleged horse-breeding operation. An indictment accused Miguel Angel Treviño Morales, a key figure in the Zetas cartel, of setting up a horse operation that a younger brother operated from a ranch near Lexington, south of Oklahoma City. The operation bought, trained, bred and raced quarter horses throughout the southwest United States, including the famed Ruidoso Downs track in New Mexico. "This case is a prime example of the ability of Mexican drug cartels to establish footholds in legitimate U.S. industries and highlights the serious threat money laundering causes to our financial system," Richard Weber, the chief of the IRS' criminal investigation unit, said at the time...more