LEXINGTON, Okla. (AP) — Associates of a reputed Mexican drug cartel leader probably wanted to lay low while allegedly laundering money at an American horse ranch. But they seemed to do everything wrong.
They swept their fields at night with a giant spotlight, threw around lots of cash, bought parcels of land in a deep recession and made expensive improvements to their farm in an industry not known for generating large profits.
A day after authorities arrested ranch operator Jose Trevino Morales on money laundering charges, people in the horse ranching community of Lexington, Okla., said Trevino was a good neighbor. But his ranch, Zule Farms, seemed strangely out of step.
Prosecutors say Trevino and his wife reported making only $58,000 in 2009. But somehow they plowed millions of dollars into their quarter-horse ranch.
