Saturday morning at 11:56 a.m., agents with the Sevier County Sheriff's Office, the De Queen Police Department, the South Central Drug Task Force, the Arkansas State Police, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the  U.S. Forestry Agency, the U.S. Wildlife Service, and Homeland Security executed a search and seizure warrant on Whistlestop Road and booked a total of 137 people into the Sevier County jail.

Sevier County Sheriff Robert Gentry reported the investigation started about 18-months ago when his department received some calls from agencies in Texas and North Arkansas about a  rooster fighting ring in the county. Gentry said other agencies learned about the illegal activity while conducting interviews with subjects who had been arrested for drugs.

Gentry said 86 suspects were charged with misdemeanor counts of unlawful animal fighting, which carries a possible $2,500 fine. Thirty-four suspects will be charged with felony counts of unlawful animal fighting.

Gentry said suspects were from as far away as New Jersey. He said others were from Mount Pleasant, Pittsburgh and San Antonio, Texas; Westen and Tulsa, Oklahoma; as well as, Fort Smith, Pine Bluff, Little Rock and Alma, Arkansas.