FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A man described as one of South Florida’s “top” dogfighters was arrested following an FBI raid at his Deerfield Beach home on Tuesday after a roughly two-year-long investigation, authorities said. There, agents said they seized nearly three dozen dogs.
Alex Eugene Benefield, 53, is facing federal charges of conspiracy and running an animal fighting venture following a raid at his residence at 1261 SW 10th Terrace, which authorities said doubled as a kennel and training ground for fighting dogs.
Authorities said they also raided a Pompano Beach home belonging to a second suspect who is also facing charges in the case.
Both suspects appeared in Fort Lauderdale federal court on Wednesday.
Two-year investigation
According to a federal criminal complaint, an FBI source told agents that Benefield was “one of the top dog fighting trainers and dog fighters in South Florida” and has been “consistently involved in dogfighting as early as 2014.”
The complaint states that agents had the source — outfitted with a hidden camera — meet with Benefield on Feb. 7, 2023. There, Benefield talked to him about dogfighting and dogs he trained, “bragging” about other individuals’ dogs that he had trained that had won fights.
Later, during another meeting in March 2023, Benefield showed the informant a video on his cellphone of one of his dogs, Blueface, “killing and eating one of the dogs in the backyard” of his home.
He told the source, “This is what I come home to,” the complaint states.
“You see him eating her, that’s Blueface, son,” agents said Benefield was heard telling the source. “I come in the yard, he eating her. That’s the fifth one he killed. He done killed five. This Blueface son, he done killed five.”
He also showed the informant a video of a female dog fight on his phone, authorities said, and “narrated the dog fight and described the techniques the dogs were using during the fight.”
“Just eat it like that, just watch, b—- on the bottom biting where she can,” he was heard saying, according to the complaint.
According to the FBI, Benefield and the source met again this December.
On Dec. 14, 2024, the source heard dogs barking in Benefield’s backyard, authorities said, and Benefield again talked about dogfighting.
The complaint states that when the source asked about Blueface, Benefield replied, “I been sold Blueface…that’s his son. He another murderer, he done killed two or three himself, his son Capone, Blueface’s son.”
FBI raids Deerfield Beach home
The FBI would raid the home one month later, on Tuesday.
There, agents said they found “at least 34 dogs in cages, kennels and on chains,” which “exhibited signs of being involved in dogfighting, to include scarring and various other injuries.”
“For example, one of the dogs was missing part of their lip, which is consistent with wounds suffered from dogfighting,” the complaint states.
Authorities said they also found an “apparent training shed, including equipment consistent with dog fighting training and a structure for general storage,” along with a carpet mill.
“Carpet mills are used to increase a dog’s endurance and are often used to train dogs for dogfighting,” the complaint states. “In general, the dog will be chained to a long arm of the carpet mill and an ‘agitator,’ which is used to get the dog to chase it.”
Agents said they also found a spring pole, which is used to “strengthen the dog’s jaws by hanging from it,” along with slat mills “used to condition dogs for dogfighting to improve endurance.”
Inside the shed, authorities said they found four treadmills with “plywood pieces added to the sides to keep the dog from falling off” and “a metal chain attached to the front of the treadmills to ensure the dog continued training,” along with “multiple weighted collars and vests in varying styles” and a hanging scale used to weigh dogs.
According to the complaint, agents interviewed a man living in a structure at the home who said Benefield, known as “Bossman,” told him to train the dogs in exchange for a “place to stay, food, and, periodically, with money for clothes.”
The man told investigators that while Benefield didn’t hold dog fights at the home, the dogs would sometimes come to the home injured and Benefield “would administer veterinary-type care” and treat them with medications kept in a refrigerator inside the home, which authorities said they would later locate.
Authorities said in an interview, Benefield denied he had ever “fought or trained dogs” and denied the dogs were his. Instead, he said they belonged to a man named “Tyrone Butler,” the complaint states.
Investigators said they found a flyer on the wall for a man of the same name who had been missing since Aug. 18, 2020.
Pompano Beach raid, arrest
According to another federal criminal complaint, the source also led investigators to Tramaine Randall, a 44-year-old Pompano Beach man also involved in dogfighting.
Authorities said Randall was seen on video at a July 2024 dog fight in Deerfield Beach, recording the fight himself.
Later, in October, they said Randall sent the source ”videos of a recent dog fighting event (he) had attended” through WhatsApp, both of which “showed two dogs, which appeared to be pit-bull mix, fighting in a box/ring made of plywood and carpeting.”
“In the videos that (he) sent to the (source), there were unidentified males surrounding the ring cheering on the dogs using phrases such as, ‘I didn’t come to fight, I came to kill’ and ‘it’s going to be a bloodbath’ as the dogs fought one another.”
At the source’s Dec. 14 meeting with Benefield, Benefield talked about a fight he and Randall attended in which Randall’s dog beat Benefield’s, the complaint states.
Benefield “stated he had to stop the fight for the fear of losing his dog.”
Randall’s house at 721 NE 45th Court was also raided by authorities on Tuesday.
There, authorities said they found 10 pit bulls and a French bulldog, some of which had scarring “consistent” with dogfighting.
They said they also found various items used in training and treating dogs, including antibiotics, syringes and supplements.
The complaint states that agents also found break sticks, “generally used to pry open a dogs’ jaws to control a fight between dogs,” a spring pole, a hanging scale, multiple treadmills and a slat mill.
Men appear in court
Court records show that Benefield and Randall made initial appearances in Fort Lauderdale federal court on Wednesday.
Benefield was given a $200,000 personal surety bond — which did not require him to post money upfront — and ordered him to be on house arrest with GPS monitoring.
Benefield was also ordered to turn over any passports or guns. The judge also ordered him to not be in the presence of dogs, dogfighting “or any animal activity.”
Randall was given a $150,000 personal surety bond and is also subject to house arrest and similar restrictions.
Both men are scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 5.
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