Feds arrest 120 at major cockfight in Arkansas, find 200 dead and live birds

Officials had obtained a state search warrant to check out the fight and only expected 30 to 40 people to attend.

A total of 134 people attended the event, more than the 56 that officers from ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations Texarkana team and local authorities who aided in the arrests had expected to attend.

Police relied on U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations officers in the sky to help capture people who tried to run.

The 120 arrestees are still in the process of being identified. Texas and Arkansas do not allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, making it more difficult for a person in the country illegally to prove his or her immigration status.

HSI also said that based on interviews with some of the illegal immigrants who were apprehended at the fight, they have learned of local workplaces employing people despite their lack of documents to legally work in the U.S.

“I am extremely proud of the work by Special Agent Jeremy Ridenour, Resident Agent in Charge J.P. Moseley and the quick response by the HSI personnel in Arkansas to this event,” Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nick Nelson said in a statement. “This collaborative effort not only provided prompt federal law enforcement support to our state and local partners but it also resulted in investigative leads that align with HSI priorities. It was a win-win situation.”