Red-faced feds ICE alleged cockfighters after ANIMALS 24-7 points finger

Coincidence or consequence?  Who knows,  who cares?

TOPEKA, Kansas;  GULFPORT, Mississippi;  MOSES LAKE, Washington;   TOPEKA, Kansas––A rarely equaled three-day flurry of cockfighting busts involving the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement [ICE] division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security immediately followed publication of the May 1,  2025 ANIMALS 24-7 article Will Trump administration ICE cockfighters? ICE busts two in first 100 days,  subheaded “Push to deport illegal alien criminals so far appears to bust cockfighters mostly by accident.”

ANIMALS 24-7 further pointed out on May 1,  2025 that U.S. federal agencies during the first 100 days of the Donald Trump administration had busted fewer cockfights and arrested far fewer alleged cockfighters than during the first 100 days of 2024,  under the Joe Biden administration,  and that despite the relative ease of catching illegal alien criminals at cockfights,  ICE had contributed information to just two arrests.

Busts begin in Topeka

That changed abruptly on May 1,  beginning about 19 hours after the ANIMALS 24-7 article was posted late on April 30,  whether by coincidence or consequence of officials becoming embarrassed.

In Topeka,  Kansas,  reported Tim Hrenchir for the Topeka Capital-Journal,  “Police arrested a man and seized 28 animals,  including an unspecified number of roosters suspected of being used in cockfighting.

“Israel Hernandez-Zavala,  40,  was booked into the Shawnee County Jail on multiple charges including animal cruelty,  drug offenses,  and weapons violations.

“Police found drugs,  guns,  and evidence of animal cruelty while executing a search warrant.”

(Article continues below photo.)

ICE team SWATS Lizana,  Mississippi

That was just the warm-up act.  On May 3,  2025,  ICE,  “jointly with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other partners,”  announced a Department of Homeland Security media release,  “executed search warrants involving illegal immigration,  cockfighting and other criminal activity in South Mississippi,”  specifically in Lizana,  an unincorporated former logging community just north of Gulfport.

The “other partners” in the raid were identified as “ICE Enforcement & Removal Operations,  Harrison County Sheriff’s Office,  U.S. Customs & Border Protection,  the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,  and the FBI.

“ICE Gulfport special agents and deportation officers are in the process of positively identifying all encountered individuals,  as well as checking immigration records,”  the media release said.

Two dozen suspects in a barn

The media release did not actually say much about the cockfight that was raided,  but “Authorities reported that more than two dozen people were gathered in a barn surrounding a makeshift fighting arena.  The cockfighting coliseum was apparently complete with multiple rows of seats for spectators and lined with plexiglass,”  updated Ben Milam of Supertalk Mississippi.

Biloxi Sun Herald investigative reporter Margaret Baker finally dug up the details,  published on May 6, 2025.

“According to the charging documents,”  wrote Baker,  “James Joseph Riviere Jr. owned the property on Northup Cuevas Road,  and he and others who lived there,  namely Alvin Smith III and Herbert Kasey Smith,  hosted deadly cockfighting matches every other Saturday.

Cashier & concessionaire

Riviere and the Smiths were charged with Animal Welfare Act violations and conspiracy,  along with “Rachel Reddoch,  identified in the charging documents as a cashier who accepted the payments to attend and participate in the cockfights,  and the referee for the fights, identified as Louis Summers Jr.,”  Baker continued.

Also charged,  Baker recounted,  were “Tammie Cuevas,  who identified herself to federal authorities as the property owner’s sister-in-law,  who worked the concession stand during the fights,”  and “Shane Cuevas: an out-of-state man who admitted having previous convictions related to cockfighting.”

Shane Cuevas allegedly “told authorities he gave his brother money to enter three gamecocks into a fight.  One was found dead in the back of his truck.

A pair & a couple from Louisiana

Other arrestees,  Baker said,  included “James Benjamin Bice and Jackie Lamar Bice,”  who allegedly brought 12 gamecocks from Louisiana “to participate in the fights for $2,500.”

Mentioned Baker,  “In a post-arrest interview, Jackie Bice told authorities he had been fighting gamecocks for 60 years, the charging document says.”

A couple from Louisiana,  Brett Lester and Loraine Violet Tai,  “admitted bringing roosters to Mississippi to fight,”  Baker said.  “Tai admitted helping Lester on his farm in Louisiana, where he had about 100 chickens.  On the night of the raid, Tai had $4,000 in cash and admitted bringing the money to place bets.”

A suspect named Victor Fricke also “brought a rooster to take part in a fight.”

Two alleged Mexican nationals nabbed

But the ICE cream on the cake for Homeland Security Enforcement & Removal Operations was the apprehension of suspected Mexican nationals Alan Alexis Mondragon Talavera and Oscar De Leon Martinez.

Talavera “paid to attend the cockfights,”  Baker reported,  and “attempted to run from authorities when they raided the property.”

Martinez was “charged with an immigration violation for illegal reentry and an additional charge for violating the Animal Welfare Act.  Authorities found a rooster he brought to take part in a fight in his trailer on the property,”  Baker finished.

The Department of Homeland Security media release indicated that the Lizana raid was the result of a longterm undercover investigation

Holy Moses!

Six more suspects were jailed later on May 3,  2025,  “following the bust of a cockfighting operation in Moses Lake,  Grant County,  Washington,”  reported KXRX radio,  of Pasco,  Washington.

“The Moses Lake Police Department says evidence of both illegal drugs and animal fighting was discovered,”  KXRX said.

“During the servicing of the warrant,  investigators reportedly seized heroin and methamphetamine,  six firearms,  over $30,000 in cash,  and 71 roosters illegally-outfitted for fighting,”  KXRX continued.

Variously charged with illegal gambling,  animal fighting,  possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver,  and unlawful possession of a firearm were Moses Lake residents Ricardo Ante-Rodriguez,  35;  Victor Noriega,  45;  Hilda Matus,  51;  Reynalda Noriega-Chavez,  71;  and Pedro Noriega, 75,  along with Blas Ante-Rodriguez of Yakima,  42.

“20 articles for birds”

May 3,  2025 concluded with the U.S. Customs & Border Protection interception of 10 pairs of leather cock spur covers and 10 cockfighting knife sheaths at the Cincinnati Port of Entry.

“The shipment,  headed to a residence in Corsica,  Texas, was manifested as “20 articles for birds,”  detailed the Northern Kentucky Tribune,  of Covington,  Kentucky.

Hot tip for ICE,  if ICE agents are indeed reading ANIMALS 24-7:  even more illegal alien criminals could be apprehended at steer-tailing competitions,  if the many blatant acts of cruelty repeatedly documented by Showing Animals Respect & Kindness were to be prosecuted.

See Steer-tailing, “a nightmare for animals,” under Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s nose.

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