ELKO, Nev. (AP) — A defense lawyer says two Elko County men accused of trafficking drugs and conducting illegal cockfights feared for their lives and were only taking orders from higher-ups in a Mexican cartel that was running the operation in rural northeast Nevada. The trial in Elko County District Court is expected to wrap up next week for Hector Hugo Ramirez-De La Torre and Jorge Landeros Ruiz, who were arrested in a drug raid in March 2019, the Elko Daily Free Press reported on Thursday. The two men pleaded not guilty to about two dozen felony counts related to drug trafficking and unlawful killing of livestock — pitting chickens and roosters against each other with the intent to fight. Law officers confiscated eight firearms, more than eight pounds of methamphetamine, cockfighting paraphernalia and $13,000 at the residence in Osino about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northeast of Elko. They found more than 500 chickens and four horses and — under a court order — ended up euthanizing 248 roosters along with a horse in poor physical condition.

Source: Daily Sun January 23, 2021 00:56 UTC