By Kevin Buey
Deming Headlight Staff
DEMING, NM — Acting on a tip, Luna County Sheriff’s Deputies, Saturday afternoon, descended on an address on Keeler Farm Road, confiscating 70 roosters being used in a cockfighting operation.
“A couple of our guys did drive by,” LCSO Investigator Olin Lynch said of responding to the tip received just before 1 p.m. “They found it (the tip) was correct.
“As soon as the deputies came on the scene, they (people) scattered. A total of 70 live birds were recovered. They were taken to the humane society. There were 38 dead birds.”
The LCSO, Capt. Arturo Baeza said, is checking records to determine the property owner. No arrest were made. Lynch said people at the scene were warned by a lookout of deputies approaching the 4725 Keeler Farm Road address, and fled before deputies reached the cockfighting site.
Cockfighting is against the law in New Mexico. Depending on a person’s involvement, Sheriff Raymond Cobos said, penalties range from misdemeanor to fourth-degree felony charges.
Lynch said deputies found wires for a computer, but no computer, and no money. They did find listings of weight of the birds, fight number tickets, scales and 79 blades used in cockfighting.
A rental agreement and rental car - a 2010 Ford Escape, with Arizona registration - were also recovered, as were two cells phones and a pair of men’s custom-made boots.
“We have the name of the car-renter,” Lynch said. “One of the phones has a 915 area code (West Texas) and (we have) a name and address on a prescription.”
Ribbons for Best of Show and Grand Champion were also recovered.
Gov. Bill Richardson signed a bill in March 2007 outlawing cockfighting in New Mexico. It became effective June 15, 2007.
State Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-District 36, had introduced legislation to ban cockfighting over 18 years preceding the bill’s signing.
With the governor’s signature, New Mexico became the 49th state to outlaw cockfighting. Louisiana then banned it in a bill effective in August 2008, making cockfighting illegal in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
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