Drug dealers double as cattle rustlers

OKLAHOMA CITY, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Enterprising drug dealers are reviving one of the more colorful criminal enterprises of the Old West, cattle rustling.

Last year the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association said it recovered more than $4 million in stolen cattle and equipment. This year they expect to recover $9 million.

Derrell Peel, an Oklahoma State University marketing specialist, said cattle prices are up by 10 cents a pound from last year. So a 1,300-pound steer that brought $1,000 last year might bring $1,130 this year.

With prices for beef on the hoof rising that sharply, drug dealers can load $20,000 worth of cattle into a trailer in about 30 minutes, the Oklahoman reported Tuesday.

Modern-day rustlers prefer non-branded cattle. Authorities say they get 65 percent to 70 percent of branded cattle back; only 35 percent of non-branded cattle make it back to rightful owners.