Florida man accused of selling horse meat at illegal slaughterhouse

HIALEAH, Fla. — A man was arrested Friday and accused of selling illegal meat for $7 a pound after police raided a suspected horse slaughterhouse west of Hialeah, Florida.

Undercover detectives met with Manuel Coto-Martinez, 70, and made three purchases of the illegal meat over several months, the Miami Herald reports.

"The unregulated slaughter of horses and uninspected meat presents a real safety and food security issue that puts lives in jeopardy and our agricultural community at risk," Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle told the Herald.

The case is "the first successful infiltration -- into the extremely close-knit and secretive world of horse meat sales," Rundle said.

Martinez's ranch was the site of "several illegal pig slaughterhouses" found in recent years, the Herald story said.

The land was also used for Fairy Tales Pony Rentals, which provides horses for children's parties.

Martinez is charged with two felony counts, including the unlawful sale of horse meat.

Cox Media Group