By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
Investments in the drug cartel world apparently know no bounds.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western Texas District announced Tuesday the indictment of 14 members of Mexico’s Los Zetas cartel for laundering money by purchasing, breeding and racing American quarter horses in the U.S.
Those indicted included Los Zetas leader Miguel Angel Trevino Morales (aka “40”) and his brothers, Oscar Omar Trevino Morales (aka “42”) and Jose Trevino-Morales, authorities said.
On Tuesday, authorities said they arrested seven of the defendants.
“The allegations in this indictment, if proven, would document yet another example of the corrupting influence of Mexican drug cartels within the United States, facilitated by the enormous profits generated by the illicit drug trade,” U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman said in a statement.
The indictment alleges that millions of dollars worth of transactions transpired in New Mexico, Oklahoma, California and Texas involving a large number of quarter horses, and the cartel used front companies to conceal the true ownership.
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