IRS to Sell Drug Cartel Horses at Auction

photo via regardinghorses.com

The Zeta drug cartel has a little IRS problem, and it’s no ordinary tax debt.

Zeta had been laundering drug money under the cover of a race horse ranch run by one Miguel Angel Treviño Morales near Oklahoma City.  The Criminal Investigation division of the IRS (CI) went in with other law enforcement to seize the property and arrest the suspects back in May, and now a judge has decided that the property will be sold.  Hopefully CI did not have to brandish any weapons in the raid.  Probably not, since it appears the bust went smoothly and without incident.  The IRS plans to sell 379 horses at auction November 1-3.

CI is a special division of the IRS responsible for investigating financial crimes and criminal violations of the Internal Revenue Code.  CI targets both “legal source” and “illegal source” financial crimes, including narcotics related financial crimes.  That’s why CI would be involved in the activities of drug cartels that occur on US soil.

These Mexican cartel families are so arrogant; they think they are invincible.  They just couldn’t resist using drug references in the names of some of their prominent horses.  Also, they do not appear to have been trying to keep a low profile since their horses were winning major races (and prize money) left and right.

Ironically, the last time I blogged about CI, I quipped (in reference to the fact that they don’t have many opportunities to use their weapons) that they aren’t chasing down drug dealers.  Well, I stand corrected.