By Scott Turner
Federal agents, state and local law enforcement officers dismantled a cockfighting fighting ring in Blount County on Saturday.
Seventy-five people were taken into custody on criminal and civil charges, Special Agent Steven Schrank told AL.com. The operation, under the umbrella of the Gulf of America Homeland Security, is still ongoing.
Suspects taken into custody included a mixture of American citizens, those were here lawfully, but “a large number are illegal aliens,” Schrank said.
The investigation exposed more than just animal cruelty, federal officials said. The ring was tied to a network of organized criminal activity, including illegal gambling, drug trafficking, and violent offenses.
Schrank said the ring involved “just terrible conduct that is abusing livestock, taking advantage and victimizing animals and profiting from that through an illegal gambling operation.”
He said chickens were armed with blades “and would ultimately kill each other in the name of sport.”
“It’s just terrible to see this especially in a part of the state and a part of the country where we have significant poultry operations,” Schrank said. “We’ve seized multiple firearms and are seizing gambling proceeds and putting this operation out of business permanently.”
He said the conditions at the site were as “abysmal” and the operation of the ring demonstrated a danger to the participants as well as the community. More people may have been taken into custody had it not been for the rain, Schrank said.