ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputies found rows and rows of roosters locked away individually in cases and barrels at a South Valley property.

The location where the alleged rooster breeding and cockfighting operation was centered was next door to Navajo Elementary.

According to a criminal complaint, deputies started investigating in February. They checked out the property in March and then again in April.

Deputies say Luis Aguilar-Ibarra is behind the operation. The roosters are all his.

He reportedly doesn’t own the property where the birds were found – deputies say owners told them that Aguilar-Ibarra was a friend and they just allowed him to keep the birds there.

Aguilar-Ibarra reportedly told deputies he sells roosters and hens and keeps them separated to keep them from fighting.

Deputies said he told them roosters in the pen that were missing feathers and had visible injuries just had a disease. But deputies believe they were used to train other roosters to fight.

According to the complaint, deputies got a warrant to search Aguilar-Ibarra’s phone. They say videos on the phone showed Aguilar-Ibarra and his 16-year-old son making roosters cockfight. They also found photos of bloody roosters and performance-enhancing drugs for roosters.

Aguilar-Ibarra was booked into the Bernalillo County jail Thursday on charges of cockfighting and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.