Federal judge Sam Sparks in Texas is allowing prosecutors to sell more than 400 racehorses seized ;from the Zetas drug cartel amid allegations the animals were used to launder profits from the Mexican drug cartel. A trial date has been set for October.
Horse racing - Clue to cartel money laundering
U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks last week gave prosecutors permission to auction the horses seized from the Zetas drug cartel and hold the proceeds until the case is resolved.
The Trevino brothers’ company, Tremor, bought a sprawling ranch in Oklahoma and an estimated 300 stallions and mares. The brothers might have kept their operation quiet, given the criminal connection, but their passion for horses and winning apparently proved too tempting. In the short span of three years, Tremor won three of the industry’s biggest races, with prizes totaling some $2.5 million.
On June 12, 2012, the Justice Department moved against Tremor, dispatching several helicopters and hundreds of law enforcement agents to the company’s stables in Ruidoso and its ranch in Oklahoma. Jose Treviño and several associates were taken into custody.
Currently, fifteen people are charged in the investigation, which centers on the operation of the Oklahoma horse ranch where authorities seized 49 of the most valuable horses and claimed control of more than 400 horses.
In court documents, prosecutors said that four of the horses have died, an others have been injured due to overcrowding. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks last week gave prosecutors permission to auction the horses and hold the proceeds until the case is resolved