FLORENCE - Police have arrested about 80 people on cockfighting and animal cruelty charges in Chesterfield County.

Chesterfield County Sheriff Sam Parker said most of those arrested Saturday were from Darlington and Kershaw counties in South Carolina and Robeson and Scotland counties in North Carolina.

Parker said the arrests were the result of investigations during the past two years.

"We've missed out a couple of times before," Parker said. "We've been made aware of cockfighting activity in this area but have been unsuccessful in finding the location until today."

A tip Saturday morning paid off and brought Chesterfield deputies and animal-control officers to the McBee site.

Police seized chickens and cockfighting equipment.

Police also found thousands of dollars and 2 pounds of marijuana.

They also found evidence of cockfighting and about 100 chickens at the site, including several chickens that were dead.

"It's very trashy, very nasty and bloody," Parker said of the scene. "It's very unsanitary, very depressing when you see all those dead chickens lying on the ground ... just looked like a death arena."

Investigators say participants were vying for honors, including a 5-foot trophy inscribed "2005 Cock Fighter of the Year."

Parker said 60 to 80 people were arrested and some fled on foot and are being sought.

The S.C. House approved legislation this spring that would raise the state's cockfighting penalty from a maximum fine of $100 and 30 days in jail to $1,000 and as much as a year prison for a first offense.

A third conviction could bring a $5,000 fine and five years in jail.

The legislation, now in a Senate committee, also lets police seize property tied to animal fighting. That means people involved in the sport could lose a cage and a pickup truck or a barn and a farm.

Animal fighting grew into a big issue during the past year because the state's agriculture commissioner was charged in a federal crackdown on an Aiken cockfighting ring.

In January, Charles Sharpe gave up his office and pleaded guilty to lying to a federal officer and taking a $10,000 bribe to protect a cockfighting ring. He began serving a two-year prison sentence in June.