Gator found shot dead in truck bed, leading to five arrests, Florida cops say
.jpg "A report of a possible alligator-hunting operation led to five arrests in Florida, wildlife officers said.")
An alligator shot dead in a truck led to wildlife officers shutting down an illegal gator-hunting operation in Florida, authorities said.
Five people have been arrested, and four of them now have ICE detainers, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office called in the FWC on Aug. 16 following a report that someone had caught an alligator on a steel line in a canal, the agency said in a news release.
A wildlife officer visited the location and found the gator still attached to the line, and not long after, a truck carrying five people showed up, investigators said.
The truck started to leave, but the officer pulled it over and found a gator in the truck bed, shot with its snout wrapped in duct tape and a steel line still attached, according to the FWC.
“The five individuals were arrested and received multiple charges related to the illegal take of the alligator and transported to the Okeechobee County Jail,” officers said.
One person had a valid identification, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued detainers for the other four, deputies said.
Gator hunting is legal in Florida but is regulated by the FWC, which issues about 7,000 permits each year through a lottery system. Each permit allows the holder to harvest two gators in their assigned area during the short season, which runs Aug. 15 to Nov. 1.
Okeechobee County is on the northern edge of Lake Okeechobee, about an 80-mile drive northwest from West Palm Beach.
This story was originally published August 20, 2025 at 2:19 PM with the headline "Gator found shot dead in truck bed, leading to five arrests, Florida cops say."