HARRAH, OKLA (KOKH) — Six horses are being rehabilitated at an Oklahoma equine rescue after authorities say they were found in a trailer carrying an estimated $4.8 million worth of cocaine.
The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics said its interdiction unit pulled over a trailer May 20, and after searching it, found “totes in there that contained 160 kilos of cocaine that was being transported through Oklahoma,” spokesman Mark Woodward said.
Woodward said the bureau is not releasing information about the people involved because the investigation is still underway.
Authorities said those involved are tied to powerful drug cartels, are considered dangerous and will be charged in connection with drug trafficking.
Woodward said using a horse trailer to transport drugs is not common, but drugs can be hidden in nearly anything.
“Sometimes loading the drugs in the back, whether it’s vegetables, whether it’s carnival equipment, you name it, airline equipment. There’s some wrapped as Christmas presents in diaper bags. There’s no limit to the lengths that these people will go to try to move drugs in vehicles and move it across the country,” Woodward said. “Because again, this particular load was a value of about $4.8 million. So there’s literally millions of dollars at stake with every shipment that they can get moved across the country.”
Woodward also said there is a high chance the load was going to be cut with fentanyl.
Along with the cocaine, authorities found six horses in the trailer. Woodward said that created an immediate need to find a place for them.
“That’s a concern because we have to find a place for them and we were very grateful that we were able to make a phone call and the Blaze Equine Rescue said absolutely we will step up,” Woodward said.
The horses were taken to Blaze Tribute Equine Rescue, where President Natalee Cross said the organization has worked with law enforcement for 25 years, but had never been contacted for a situation like this.
“I was like, wow, okay, yeah, I mean, we’ll definitely help. It was a lot to process. We had never been contacted for a situation like that before. So it was kind of new territory for us,” Cross said.
Cross said her first concern was what the horses had endured.
“It was more like what the horses had been through. I didn’t know how long they had been in that trailer or how far they had come from. There was a lot of questions that, were in the back of my head regarding what the horses have been through,” she said.
Cross said several of the horses had scrapes and wounds, and one horse was much thinner than the others. She said the animals have since begun to settle in.
“They’ve they’ve settled down quite a bit that first 24 to 48 hours they were pretty wound up and they had been through a lot it was very evident that you know that they were overwhelmed the horses were so they’ve settled down quite a bit they’re um enjoying you know the i think the calmness and the quiet,” Cross said.
Cross said, “You can definitely see, I think, a sigh of relief and just not knowing how long they were in that trailer. You know, if, if they could talk, I’d be interested to hear.”
Cross said the next step is for the horses to go out to pasture “and just be horses,” and eventually be adopted into permanent homes.
To donate to help these animals or volunteer, visit the Blaze Tribute Equine Rescue website linked here.
While Cross says their horses won’t be available for adoption for a while, they will eventually be. You can fill out an adoption application here.
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