LEXINGTON, Okla. (AP) - Associates of a reputed Mexican drug cartel leader probably wanted to lay low while allegedly laundering money at an American horse ranch. But they seemed to do everything wrong.

They swept their fields at night with a giant spotlight, threw around lots of cash, bought parcels of land in a deep recession and made expensive improvements to their farm in an industry not known for generating large profits.

A day after authorities arrested ranch operator Jose Trevino Morales on money laundering charges, people in the horse ranching community of Lexington, Okla., said Trevino was a good neighbor. But his ranch, Zule Farms, seemed strangely out of step.

Prosecutors say Trevino and his wife reported making only $58,000 in 2009. But somehow they plowed millions of dollars into their quarter-horse ranch.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The brother of a Texas horse trainer charged with laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel says he's being falsely accused.

Eusevio Huitron of Austin was arrested Tuesday as part of a federal indictment into alleged quarter-horse racing operations with links to the notorious Zetas drug cartel.

The indictment alleges Huitron trained horses for the cartel and used a real estate business to launder drug profits.

But his older brother, Jesus, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Huitron has been a horse trainer since 1994 and has nothing to do with "drugs, or cartels, or any of this foolishness."

He says he's hiring an attorney for his brother, who will be back in court Friday.