ICE, Federal Partners, Bust Alabama Cockfighting Ring

On June 16, ICE media announced its agents, in cooperation with federal and state partners, busted a massive cockfighting ring in Blount County, Ala., arresting 60, including “55 illegal aliens” — four of whom are being charged with illegal entry after deportation. Apparently, highly organized animal cruelty is just another “job Americans won’t do”.

This raid was run by “The Gulf of America Homeland Security Task Force”, an effort that brings together ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), FBI, ATF, and (interestingly) IRS agents to carry out large-scale investigations in cooperation with officers from CBP, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) directorate, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, and local U.S. attorney’s offices.

I can’t find much about the Gulf of America Homeland Security Task Force online, but the name would suggest agents are taking advantage of enforcement opportunities now being offered by the president and his “border czar” Tom Homan to go after criminal aliens after years of meddling and hindrance under the prior administration.

Also, it’s great to see HSI agents and ERO officers working cooperatively after some unpleasantness between the higher-ups in the two components at the tail-end of the Biden administration. Alexandre Dumas likely put it best when he noted, “Nothing succeeds like success.”

“A Broader Network of Serious Crimes”

Apparently, this cockfighting ring was not a standalone operation — which may explain why agents also seized more than $100,000 in “bulk cash” and two firearms after they showed up.

As the ICE press release notes, this ring “was tied to a broader network of serious crimes, including illegal gambling, drug trafficking, and violent offenses”. Maybe IRS’s interest — in particular — does make sense after all.

None of this is to suggest that aliens here unlawfully are (as a class) especially predisposed to violent criminality — though an untold number plainly are, and few serious crimes occur in a vacuum.

According to local reporting, this bust was the “culmination of months of surveillance”. In addition to the feds, the operation itself also involved “six special response SWAT teams and two helicopters” in a state one animal advocate described as the “cockfighting capital of the Southeast” due to the low penalties associated with the practice there.

And for those worried about the price of eggs and chicken, there’s a cost-of-living angle to this story, too. Many fighting birds, it turns out, are imported — illegally — from Mexico (which explains the cartel involvement), a smuggling scheme that has been “linked to the spread of avian diseases like bird flu and Newcastle disease”.

Aside from the barbaric nature of the “sport”, who knew illegal cockfighting also implicated illegal immigration, the cartels, tax evasion, gun offenses, and violent crime? Fortunately, in this case, the “Gulf of America Homeland Security Task Force” came in with their hackles up — and a lot of backup.