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November 2, 2012

Horses tied to drug cartel auctioned

The Associated Press Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — More than 300 horses that the U.S. government says were purchased as part of a Mexican drug cartel’s money-laundering operation were put up for auction Thursday in Oklahoma City.

Some of the 340 quarter horses auctioned at the Heritage Place Fall Mixed Sale were bred from some of America’s top racehorses, and the government’s most prized horse — A Dash of Sweet Heat — sold for $1 million.

Federal prosecutors say 15 people charged in the case funneled millions of dollars in drug profits through quarter horse operations.

Most of the horses that were seized came from a sprawling ranch in Lexington that prosecutors said was run by Jose Trevino Morales, the brother of two alleged leaders of the Zeta drug cartel in Mexico.

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