FBI raids horseracing yard in strike against Mexican drugs cartel

The seizures came as a grand jury in Texas indicted 14 people over the alleged laundering of dirty money through the purchasing, training, breeding and racing of American quarter horses.

Those charged are accused of being part of Los Zetas, one of Mexico’s most powerful, feared and brutal drugs gangs. Amongst those indicted were the cartel’s leader Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, and his brothers Oscar Omar Trevino Morales and Jose Trevino Morales.

The men are alleged to have set up a network in the US to buy and race quarter horses, a breed noted for its sprinting skills.

The indictment sheet, unsealed by a court on Tuesday, charges the alleged gang-members, with one count of conspiracy to launder money.

Prosecutors claim that since 2008, the Morales brothers have diverted millions of dollars of drugs money into the buying of horses in New Mexico, Oklahoma, California and Texas.

Front organisations were set up to conceal the true ownership of the track winners, it is alleged.

Some of the horses being raced carried names alluding to the real business of its owners, such as Number One Cartel and Coronita Cartel.

Others proved to be profitable money-spinners for the alleged co-conspirators.

A list of the horses being seized by federal agents includes Tempting Dash, 2009 winner of the Dash for Cash race at the Lone Star Park in Texas.

Another, Mr Piloto, romped home in the $1 million (£643,000) All American Futurity race on Labour Day 2010. His trainer, Felipe Quintero, was one of seven defendants arrested in the FBI swoop.

A further seven named in the charge sheet are still at large, with many thought to be on the run in Mexico.

Alongside the horses, US authorities called for the forfeiture of farm and ranch equipment and a monetary judgement of $20 million alleged to have laundered through the scheme.

The Morales operation appears to have been run under an arrogance that they were above the law.

Workers at the Ruidoso Downs Race Track in New Mexico openly referred to the “Zetas’ stable” it has been reported.

Richard Weber, head of the Inland Revenue Service (IRS) criminal investigation unit, said: “This case is a prime example of the ability of Mexican drug cartels to establish footholds in legitimate US industries and highlights the serious threat money laundering causes to our financial system.”

Los Zetas is a gang singled out for its brutality in a drugs war between cartels and the Mexican government that is marked by extreme violence.

The gang, formed by former members of the Mexican special forces, has a reputation for kidnapping, decapitation and the dismemberment of its rivals.

It is thought that they were behind the dumping of 49 headless and handless bodies on a Mexican highway in May.

A favoured form of murder by Miguel Angel Trevino Morales is the “guiso” or “stew”, in which victims are placed in 55-gallon drums and burned alive, it has been reported.

Such is the gang’s notoriety, that the US Embassy in Mexico issued a travel advisory following the indictment.