Dozens Flee as Texas Deputies Raid Suspected Cockfighting Ring near Houston; Hundreds of Birds Seized

CROSBY, Texas — A quiet rural stretch outside Houston erupted into chaos Saturday when Harris County deputies descended on a suspected cockfighting operation and found a gruesome scene: roughly 300 live birds, about 50 dead, and crowds of people fleeing as law enforcement locked down multiple adjoining properties packed with cages, fighting pits, and paraphernalia.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office says the investigation began around 2:30 p.m. after a tipster reported rooster fights underway at a home off Dranek Road. Deputies arriving on scene immediately heard the unmistakable sounds of distressed birds and discovered a mobile home with an open area behind it where the alleged fights were taking place, ABC13 in Houston reported.

According to Sgt. Clinton Nash, the operation was far larger than deputies initially realized.

“We didn’t know two properties around the back were opened up,” Nash said. “That’s when we locked down the scene and started canvassing. We saw multiple other people on the properties, so we started detaining and identifying everybody. That’s when we realized what we had with all the roosters and paraphernalia.”

As deputies moved in, many individuals reportedly attempted to flee, scattering across the adjoining lots before law enforcement secured the perimeter. Officers then began identifying participants, questioning the homeowner, and cataloging the evidence.

Authorities say the birds—many of them bred and conditioned specifically for fighting—were found in cages throughout the property. Dozens of dead roosters were also recovered, consistent with the brutal injuries typical of illegal cockfighting events.

No arrests have yet been made, and the homeowner remains under questioning. Investigators say charges are expected as they continue to sort through evidence and witness statements.

Despite the known connection between cock-fighting rings, illegal immigration, and Mexican cartel money laundering, it appears the woke Harris County Sheriff’s Office did not coordinate the operation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Houston-area Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) office. Breitbart contacted the Houston ERO office and ICE headquarters for additional information.

ICE ERO officials in Houston previously told Breitbart Texas they would be happy to provide additional manpower to assist the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in such operations. Perhaps, if ICE officers and agents had been used, those who escaped might have been detained.

The surviving birds are slated to be taken in by the Humane Society of Harris County, which will evaluate their condition and determine next steps.

Cockfighting rings—often tied to illegal gambling, animal cruelty, and sometimes broader criminal networks—have been a recurring problem in parts of Texas. Saturday’s discovery adds to growing concerns that large‑scale operations continue to thrive in rural pockets of Harris County despite repeated crackdowns.

The sheriff’s office says the investigation is ongoing.

The raid on the Crosby cockfighting ring took place about 30 minutes north of Houston and approximately 38 miles from the nation’s largest colonia, Colony Ridge, in Cleveland, Texas. It is not known if there are any connections between this cockfighting ring and the residents of Colony Ridge. ICE officials teamed up with Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to remove thousands of illegal aliens from this colonia earlier this year.

Breitbart has reported extensively on cockfighting raids in Texas and across the nation.

In October 2023, San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office deputies in Coldspring, Texas, arrested 19 men in connection to a local cockfighting operation near Cleveland, Texas. San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office (SJSO) dispatchers received a call regarding an incident of animal cruelty in the Oak Forest Subdivision near Cleveland, Breitbart reported. The deputies seized 96 live roosters, 43 vehicles, four custom utility trailers equipped for storing and transporting the roosters, five loaded pistols, a small quantity of marijuana, cockfighting paraphernalia, and more than $22,000 in cash.

The deputies placed the 19 apprehended suspects under arrest and discovered seven who are believed to be illegally present in the U.S. The sheriff’s office contacted the ICE office in Houston. Biden-era ICE officials refused to place immigration holds on any of the arrested participants, then-Sheriff Greg Capers told Breitbart.

In June 2025, Breitbart’s Randy Clark reported on the arrest of 55 illegal aliens who allegedly engaged in a cockfighting ring in Blount County, Alabama.

Clark wrote:

The operation targeted an illegal cockfighting exhibition that authorities believed was in operation in the rural Alabama county. The warrant executed by the task force focused on the unlawful animal fighting venture and the suspected presence of illegal aliens in violation of federal law. The warrant alleged the targeted operation was conducting illegal gambling as well, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs authorities.

The surprise operation resulted in the apprehension of 60 individuals suspected of involvement in the illegal animal fighting venture. Of those arrested, 55 were determined to be in the United States illegally. The multiagency team executing the search warrants recovered two firearms and seized more than $100,000 in bulk currency.

One month earlier, Clark reported on another cockfighting ring raid in southern Mississippi.

“ICE-HSI Special Agent in Charge in New Orleans Eric DeLaune issued a statement saying, ‘In addition to the acts of animal cruelty perpetrated by the operators and encouraged by the participants, underground gambling operations such as these often have ties to other significant crimes, including narcotics violations, money laundering, and acts of violence,'” Clark wrote. “These crimes degrade the safety of our communities, and we are proud to be the ones stopping these illegal operations.”