PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A 39-year-old man is accused of possessing horse meat with the intent to be consumed by humans after detectives conducted a search at his home in the Loxahatchee area for another matter.
On April 11, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant to recover stolen property and related documents to the property in the 12700 block of Orange Grove Boulevard. That's north of Royal Palm Beach and Loxahatchee Groves.
The owner of the house was identified as Lazaro Rodriguez.
A detective said he found cuts of meat in the kitchen and laundry room, some of which appeared to be defrosting. They were found in refrigerators, freezers and sinks.
The detective determined they appeared to come from the same butcher.
"I know from training and experience as well as an ongoing investigations of complaints and intelligence gathered that there are slaughter houses being operated in the Loxahatchee area, which are engaged in illegal harvesting, selling, transportation and/or distribution of animals," he wrote in the arrest report.
Rodriguez told the detective a variety of meats were in the house, including pork, chicken legs, pork, empanadas covered in banana leafs, beef but they were not equine.
On April 12, Adam Rivera, a U.S. Department of Agriculture investigator, noted one of the packages had the word caballo," which is Spanish for horse.
On Wednesday, testing confirmed it was horse meat.
He was arrested Thursday and on Friday a judge ordered his release on his own recognizance. His next court appearance was set for 8:30 a.m. May 30.