Cauble Ranch Cowboy Mafia - Denton, TX
N 33° 17.350 W 097° 10.644
14S E 669713 N 3684826
An infamous crime scene of the Cowboy Mafia in Denton, TX.
Waymark Code: WMR72C
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 05/19/2016
Views: 11
Cauble Ranch looks like an ordinary north Texas horse ranch to the I-35 passers-by oblivious to what was actually kept in the stalls and barns. This once pristine ranch was home to the nefarious activities of the Cowboy Mafia and the scene of one the DEA/FBI's largest illegal drug stings.
The Cowboy Mafia, coined by the Dallas, TX media, was a group of American marijuana smugglers during the 1970s. Texas' largest drug ring created significant media coverage and lore.
In the late 1970s, the Cowboy Mafia imported over one hundred tons of marijuana from Columbia to the ranch in Denton, TX, via six trips in shrimp boats colorfully named Agnes Pauline, Monkey, Jubilee, and Bayou Blues.
The dealers were arrested in 1978 as mafia members unloaded the marijuana. Twenty-six members of the ring were convicted in 1979.
Charles “Muscles” Foster, ranch foreman and head of the ring, pleaded innocent by reason of insanity and acquitted in 1980.
In 1981, Rex Cauble, owner of Cauble Ranch, was indicted as the financier of the Cowboy Mafia. Cauble, a multi-millionaire, former chairman of the Texas Aeronautics Commission and an honorary Texas Ranger, was also the owner of the famous cutting horse, Cutter Bill.
Cauble was convicted of ten counts, in 1982, including two counts of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act statute (RICO), conspiracy to violate RICO, three violations of the Interstate Commerce Travel Act, and four counts of misapplication of bank funds. He was sentenced to ten five-year concurrent terms and released from prison in 1987. Cauble died in 2003.
Per the RICO conviction, Cauble forfeited his 31% interest in Cauble Enterprises. This included interests in two Cutter Bill Western World stores, three Texas banks, six ranches, a welding-supply company, and oil and gas holdings. He was worth about $80 million. The government sold their interest back to the other partners (Cauble's wife and son) for an estimated $12 million.
Date of crime: 01/01/1978
Public access allowed: no
Fee required: no
Web site: [Web Link]
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