The Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office dismantled an alleged underground cockfighting operation on Tuesday at a property in the southwest part of the county, where they found hundreds of birds and a pit with numbered seating for spectators, according to a report by Univision Miami.
The operation took place on a property located at 22121 SW 309th Street, in the agricultural area of Redland. Sheriff detectives, accompanied by officials from the Animal Service, entered with a search warrant and toured the approximately five-acre property.
What the authorities found
Within the premises, the agents found several training rings and a large fighting arena, with structures built permanently.
According to the arrest report cited by Univision Miami, the arena had numbered seats for spectators and a scoreboard intended to record the wins and losses of the different teams.
The detectives also seized vitamins, syringes, medications, stimulants for roosters, and spurs, items that the authorities linked to the preparation of the animals for fights.
The examined roosters showed missing feathers, open wounds, trimmed combs, and removed natural spurs, injuries consistent with previous fights, according to the police report obtained by Telemundo 51.
The two arrested individuals and their accounts
Jesús Fabian Oliva, 41 years old, was identified in the police report as the owner of the property, although during the interrogation he claimed to only own some of the roosters.
According to Telemundo 51, Oliva denied that the animals were being used for fighting on the property.
He also assured that he had stopped participating in those activities, although he acknowledged the existence of a fighting arena, training rings, and equipment that, according to him, were no longer used.
Oliva is facing charges related to conditions that pose a risk to public health, organizing animal fights, and animal cruelty, among other offenses.
Ángel Ponce-Maqueda, 29 years old, was found in a trailer on the property, alongside caged roosters, a training ring, and a stimulant. He stated that he did not own the animals, but that he was responsible for feeding them and giving them water daily. He faces charges related to animal fighting and animal cruelty.
Both appeared before a judge and were transferred to TGK jail.
The bond has been set at 15,000 dollars for Oliva and 10,000 dollars for Ponce-Maqueda. Authorities continue to keep the investigation open to determine if there are more people involved.
Another operation against cockfighting in Miami-Dade
The operation takes place weeks after a larger seizure in the Horse Country area, where the FBI discovered thousands of roosters on a 10-acre property in early October.
This case led to the arrest of Carlos Rafael Lezcano, followed by a second arrest and subsequently athird arrest.
On October 9, authorities sacrificed more than 3,100 roosters from that farm, in what they described as the largest operation of its kind in the county's history.
In Florida, Statute 828.122 classifies various activities related to animal fighting as third-degree felonies, including organizing fights, training animals for that purpose, or maintaining facilities intended for such activities. These offenses can be punished with up to five years in prison and fines of up to $5,000, depending on the circumstances of the case.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff, Rosie Cordero-Stutz, warned after a previous operation that animal fights are inhumane and are often associated with other serious criminal activities.
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