40 Arrested For Cockfighting Ring Run By Major Cocaine Dealer
On Saturday morning, a SWAT team, backed by federal agents and state police descended on the home of the wife of Lionel Garcia, owner of Boomerang Trucking and an alleged “heavy cocaine distributor.” The boys didn’t rush the Midland County, TX, house looking for coke. Homeland Security tipped them off about an illegal cockfighting ring operating at the home. When all was said and done, 40 people–including one minor and one undocumented immigrant–were arrested, according to the Midland Reporter-Telegram.
In addition to the arrests, police recovered 30 roosters (along with several dead ones) and seized 46 ounces of cocaine, $32,000 in cash and weapons. Furthermore, authorities collected “hundreds of sharpened razor blades, or gaffs, that owners strap to the birds’ talons to inflict fatal harm to their opponents.”
According to the MRT:
Garcia allegedly was charging $20 to $100 for spectators and an entry fee of $1,000 for four roosters, according to the arrest affidavit. Beer was being sold at the event for $2, and Garcia was “known to have cocaine and large amounts of money at the cockfights he hosts,” according to the affidavit.
The affidavit also states that Garcia hosts large cockfights and distributes cocaine out of another property located near State Highway 349 and West County Road 180 in Midland County.
“Unfortunately, this is not isolated. This is one group that we know about, but they’ve been in other areas,” said Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter. “We know they’ve done fighting in other spots. We know that it is going on in other places.”
Read here about a police officer who was actually charged with brutality…against animals.
