PETA to Attorney General Bondi: Sinaloa Cartel Racetrack Activity in U.S. Warrants Immediate Crackdown

For Immediate Release:
February 24, 2026

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

In the wake of the killing of Jalisco cartel chief Nemesio Oseguera, aka “El Mencho”—and the ongoing battle between the Jalisco and Sinaloa cartels for control of the U.S. market for cocaine and other drugs—PETA today sent an urgent letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, urging her to immediately investigate ties of the Sinaloa cartel to illegal “bush track” racing. In this black-market quarter horse racing world, cocaine, methamphetamine, and other controlled substances that are illegally trafficked to the U.S. from Mexico are injected into horses to try to force them to run faster.

Law-enforcement officials have confirmed to PETA that Sinaloa has ties to illegal bush track racing in the U.S.

“These underground races are cesspools of illegal drugs and gambling, and the Sinaloa cartel connection must be exposed and eliminated,” says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. “El Mencho is dead, and now PETA is urging Attorney General Bondi to crack down on the other cartel that may be complicit in shooting up horses with cocaine and other street drugs.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi follows.

February 24, 2026

The Honorable Pamela Bondi

Attorney General of the United States

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, D.C. 20530

RE: Sinaloa Cartel Ties to Illegal “Bush Track” Horse Racing Infesting the U.S.

Dear Attorney General Bondi,

On behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), I am writing urgently to ask that your office pursue a nationwide investigation into connections between the Sinaloa Cartel and illegal “bush tracks” across the United States. Some tracks have been busted by law enforcement already, and the rest are sitting ducks.

Law enforcement officials themselves have informed PETA of the ties between the Sinaloa Cartel and the world of underground racing. This is particularly timely following the killing of the Jalisco cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, “El Mencho,” as the Jalisco and Sinaloa cartels continue to battle for control of the U.S. market for cocaine and other drugs that are commonly used not only by humans, but on horses in bush tracks across this country and are illegally trafficked here from Mexico.

Bush track participants come in from Mexico and often illegally bring in horses that are not checked for Equine Infectious Anemia and other diseases that put American horses at risk. Our investigations have shown that these races, which draw crowds of a few hundred to several thousand spectators and gamblers, are hubs of illegal activity, including suspected money laundering and interstate transportation, possession, and injection into horses of cocaine, methamphetamine, and other controlled substances. These unregulated Quarter Horse races take place without licenses or oversight, and we have uncovered a massive network of over 180 unsanctioned tracks across 30 states, with some races held openly on government-owned land, undermining the regulated horse racing industry’s reputation and mocking the law.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), and other federal and state agencies, served a search warrant on a bush track in Wilder, Idaho, but much more is possible and needs to be done to raid these places and take their operators and others into custody.

We can supply video and laboratory evidence of drug use, and we are available to assist as needed. Thank you.

Kristi Fox

Counsel

PETA Foundation