Operation Area 97

In November of 2011, ARM conducted a joint task force raid with local, state, federal law enforcement, The Miami Dade State attorney’s office, and the USDA.

The raid came after a successful investigation resulting in the shut down of up to eighteen illegal slaughter farms in Hialeah, of North West Miami Dade, titled AREA 97. This location is a mere 20 minutes from one of South Beach – Miami’s favorite tourist destinations.

These farms, located in Area 97, had been operating illegally over the last 40 years. ARM’s November raid of the ringleader, Rudestino Acosta, and his property was the largest animal rescue in the USA of 2011. It involved the seizing and recovery of almost 600 animals headed for the inevitable death of merciless slaughter for human consumption.

The criminal proceedings of this case stood as the first time in U.S. history of an arrest made on charges of butchering an animal alive and killing an animal outside of a legal slaughterhouse.