Lilith
12-03-2003, 05:20 PM
submitted by gekkogecko
By Jane Sutton
MIAMI (Reuters) - U.S. tax and customs agents seized
more than 5,000 tubes of frozen bull semen during a
Florida drug investigation and will auction it off
later this month, a government spokeswoman said on
Tuesday.
Also on the auction block on Dec. 9 are two northwest
Florida cattle ranches, assorted farm equipment and
200 head of Beefmaster cattle, a prized breed that
mixes Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman cattle.
The government seized the assets from defendants
convicted of operating a billion-dollar cocaine
smuggling and money laundering network, Pamela
McCullough, a spokeswoman for the Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agency said.
State and federal laws allow the government to seize
and auction off property bought with illegal profits,
and to use the proceeds to fund law enforcement work.
More typically seized are sports cars, fast boats,
cash and real estate.
The bull semen is frozen in "straws," slender tubes
with each containing enough to impregnate one cow.
"It's very valuable. It's extracted from these
Beefmaster cattle and is used to produce these very
fine cattle," McCullough said.
An expert at the University of Florida's Range Cattle
Research and Education Center, which is not involved
in the auction, said a straw of Beefmaster bull semen
can sell for anywhere from $3 to several hundred
dollars, depending on the quality of the bull.
By Jane Sutton
MIAMI (Reuters) - U.S. tax and customs agents seized
more than 5,000 tubes of frozen bull semen during a
Florida drug investigation and will auction it off
later this month, a government spokeswoman said on
Tuesday.
Also on the auction block on Dec. 9 are two northwest
Florida cattle ranches, assorted farm equipment and
200 head of Beefmaster cattle, a prized breed that
mixes Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman cattle.
The government seized the assets from defendants
convicted of operating a billion-dollar cocaine
smuggling and money laundering network, Pamela
McCullough, a spokeswoman for the Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agency said.
State and federal laws allow the government to seize
and auction off property bought with illegal profits,
and to use the proceeds to fund law enforcement work.
More typically seized are sports cars, fast boats,
cash and real estate.
The bull semen is frozen in "straws," slender tubes
with each containing enough to impregnate one cow.
"It's very valuable. It's extracted from these
Beefmaster cattle and is used to produce these very
fine cattle," McCullough said.
An expert at the University of Florida's Range Cattle
Research and Education Center, which is not involved
in the auction, said a straw of Beefmaster bull semen
can sell for anywhere from $3 to several hundred
dollars, depending on the quality of the bull.