Posted on 12/03/2003 7:27:56 AM PST by Pern
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.
Her experience was with bullshitter semen.
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