Busted Drug Cartel Has Ties to Los Al Horse Racing

The recent arrest of the man accused of leading Mexico’s most violent drug cartel is being haled as a crucial step for the frayed relations between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement agencies at the forefront of the drug war.

It’s an arrest that also has ties to horse racing at the Los Alamitos Race Course.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Miguel Angel Treviño Morales was arrested this month by Mexican authorities based on U.S. intelligence.

Believed to be the head of the violent Zeta cartel, Treviño Morales has been accused of laundering drug money through U.S. businesses, including Tremor Enterprises, the horse racing operation run by his brother José Treviño. A Tremor Enterprises colt ‘Mr. Ease Cartel’ has had success at the Los Alamitos Race Course. Last year, federal agents conducted a raid on the company’s Los Alamitos stables, according to The New York Times.

In an chilling article contrasting the brother’s horse racing activities to their alleged drug operations, The New York Times called Treviño Morales one of the most notorious killers in Mexican drug trafficking.

According to the paper, “The brothers’ activities on either side of the border made for a stark contrast. One week in May (2012) began with the authorities pointing fingers at Miguel Ángel Treviño for dumping the bodies of 49 people — without heads, hands or feet — in garbage bags along a busy highway in northern Mexico. The week concluded with José Treviño fielding four Tremor horses in a prestigious race at Los Alamitos Race Course, near Los Angeles…. among the Mexican underworld, Mr. (Miguel Ángel) Treviño had gained the notoriety of a cult figure, one who has escaped unscathed from several gun battles against the law, makes deals with no one and seems unafraid to die. Dismembered bodies, dumped by the dozens, have become his calling card.”