A helicopter pilot was credited with uncovering a Florida cockfighting operation where police discovered a massive grave of recently killed roosters as well as $25,000 in cash and a draw filled with spurs, Local6.com reports.

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Loud cheers alerted the pilot, whose identity was unavailable, to a large group of men in a rural area of Polk County, where police on Monday arrested 17 on suspicion of participating in a cockfighting operation. More arrests were possible, authorities said.

A bloody box where the roosters apparently fought to the death also was discovered, police said.

"It was really a very professional operation," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in the Local6.com story. "They had a box, a fighting box, and they had benches set up on each side of the box and the benches were numbered. You sat on the bench in order to place your bets."