Horses linked to Zetas drug cartel snared $8.8 million in Oklahoma City auction
Horses linked to Zetas drug cartel snared $8.8 million in Oklahoma City auction
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By Dianne Solis
dsolis@dallasnews.com
4:35 pm on November 5, 2012
http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/file.../irshorses.jpgLast month, horses seized from the Zetas roamed a farm outside Lexington, Oklahoma, before they were sold off at auction. (Vernon Bryant/Staff photographer)
More than 300 quarter horses seized by federal authorities in a money-laundering case against the Zetas drug cartel fetched $8.8 million in an Oklahoma City auction this past weekend. Authorities say one, A Dash of Sweet Heat, drew a whopping $1 million at the Heritage Pace auction.
The horses were featured in a front-page Dallas Morning News story last month on the federal money-laundering case and the indictment against Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, the alleged kingpin of the Zetas, and two brothers and a sister-in-law. The story asked the question: Given the history, who will buy mares and stallions tainted by the drug trade?
The answer: Many buyers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District.
There could still be more buyers as the federal government retains control over about 45 quarter horses.
Among them are Tempting Dash, winner of the Dash for Cash at Lone Star Park race track in Grand Prairie in 2009 and Mr. Piloto, a $1 million-dollar winner of the All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs in 2010. Both those horses and three others were explicitly asked to be kept out of the auction by Jose Trevino Morales, the older brother of the Miguel Angel Trevino Morales who goes by “Cuarenta” or 40.
Through his Dallas attorney, Jose Trevino Morales, a naturalized U.S. citizen, has said he is innocent and can’t pick who his brother is. Jose Trevino Morales lived in the Dallas area for at least a decade, according to property records.
A trial is set for the defendants in the spring of 2013. The proceeds from the sale of the quarter horses will be held in escrow pending a forfeiture action.
Federal court documents allege the horses were bought by and for members of the Zetas with proceeds from narcotics trafficking.
“Like all criminal organizations, the Zetas are motivated by money,” said U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman in a written statement. “Identifying and taking their assets is an important way to lay an axe to the root of the tree.”
Horses linked to Zetas drug cartel snared $8.8 million in Oklahoma City auction | Crime Blog
