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The Randolph County Sheriff's Office identified Monday the 73 people arrested in a weekend cockfighting bust - possibly the state's largest.

Sheriff's Capt. Johnny Hussey said deputies received a tip that led them to the cockfight at a former chicken farm at 5254 Riverside Road in Ramseur.

They were surprised by how many people they found participating in the event Saturday.

"That was the part that kind of shocked me," Hussey said. "We didn't know how big it was going to be."

Four Greensboro men were among those charged with felony cruelty to animals and cockfighting.

Dagoberto Mozqueda Garcia, 24, of 2112 Lees Chapel Road; Ignacio Martinez, 29, of 4714 Kitty Hawk Road; Pedro Guapo Montenegro, 34, of an unknown address on Jacksonville Street, and Claudioberto Diehl Olivera, 37, of 1918 Alamance Church Road were arrested.

Montenegro remained in the Randolph County jail in lieu of $5,000 bond Monday.

Deputies and police seized 73 vehicles, two firearms,

marijuana, cocaine, money and 130 live roosters as part of the bust.

Those arrested came from across North Carolina and four other states: Georgia, Vermont, California and Florida.

Twelve of those arrested live in Winston-Salem, 10 live in Asheboro and seven live in Trinity and Durham. One is from Reidsville and one is from Summerfield.

Hussey said he thought that, despite its size, the cockfighting going on at the Riverside Road farm was an isolated event and did not indicate any increase in participation in cockfighting.

Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 or sonja.elmquist@news-record.com