Cops busted an illegal ‘razor-blade’ cockfighting ring in the Nevada desert, rescuing 478 roosters and making three arrests near to a famous brothel
An illegal “razor-blade” cockfighting ring has been busted by desert cops in a dramatic raid – next to a legendary brothel. The massive sting operation took place just a stone’s throw from the legendary Chicken Ranch brothel in Nevada, US.
Law enforcement officials descended upon two rural ranches in Nye County on Tuesday, uncovering a horrific animal fighting ring and rescuing nearly 500 stricken roosters.
Shocking bodycam footage released by the Nye County Sheriff’s Office, which operates in an area famous for hosting three legal cathouses, shows rows of cages keeping the helpless birds trapped under the blazing desert sun.
Alongside the 478 captive birds, the New York Post reports that deputies seized a massive haul including 11 firearms, $60,000 in cash and dozens of “gaffs” – deadly razor blades attached to the roosters’ legs to maximise bloodshed during the savage fights.
The grim discovery was the culmination of a weeklong investigation in the unincorporated town of Pahrump, the home of the iconic Chicken Ranch.
Three men were arrested during the multi-agency raid, which was conducted alongside federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations.
According to authorities, the suspects include one individual holding a permanent residence card, one with a pending immigration status and one undocumented migrant.
The trio are facing more than 300 counts of owning a bird for the purpose of cockfighting, alongside dozens of animal abuse charges.
Suspicion had been brewing in the local community long before the law finally stepped in. One resident living near the illegal operation revealed how the horrific sounds of the suffering animals grew impossible to ignore.
A neighbour told 8 News Now that the sounds of roosters “kept getting bigger and louder” until the landowner expanded the lot and put a fence around it.
Following her instincts about the secretive compound, she added: “I just had a feeling that there was something going on behind that fence.” Investigations into the wider network remain ongoing.