A second man has been arrested in connection with an FBI raid on a property in Miami-Dade that uncovered a cockfighting operation with “several thousand” roosters, authorities said.
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Sergio Ruiz-Osorio, 54, was arrested Wednesday on charges of owning or possessing animals for fighting and animal cruelty with intent to injure or kill, Miami-Dade jail records showed.
Another man, 52-year-old Carlos Rafael Lezcano, had been arrested Sunday on similar charges, records showed.
According to the report, the FBI contacted the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office on Saturday after the raid at the 10-acre property in the 12300 block of Southwest 51st Street.
Among the things found on the property were “several thousand game fowl roosters” and numerous enclosed cockfighting training rings along with rooster fighting paraphernalia including vitamins, syringes, medication, fighting spurs, boxing gloves and rooster agitators, the report said.
While searching a section of the property that contained around 100 individually housed roosters, a detective spotted two men who breached the secured perimeter of the property, the report said.
Authorities yelled at them to stop but both men jumped a fence and fled on foot, the report said.
A short time later, one of the men, Lezcano, was found walking at a nearby nursery and taken into custody, the report said.
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Among the items found at the cockfighting property was a ledger with Lezcano’s name on it, the report said.
On Wednesday, detectives found a section of the property with a sign, Los Laureles, Venta De Animals, and discovered 125 roosters, an enclosed cockfighting training ring, a rooster agitator and other rooster paraphernalia, an arrest report said.
Detectives also found 16 dogs, 3 cats as well as numerous goats, turtles and birds in a “visibly dire state of neglect,” the report said.
The animals appeared to have no food or drinking water and the turtles had limited water and visibly distressed, the report said.
Authorities contacted the number on the sign, and Ruiz-Osorio answered and said he would come to the property.
When he arrived, he was taken into custody and booked into jail.
The report said all the animals on the property were removed by Miami-Dade Animal Services.
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