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BLACKFOOT, Idaho (AP) — Two Idaho men have been arrested on cattle rustling charges after authorities found them with 16 undocumented calves.
Rancher Chris Drakos had recently noticed that 16 of his cattle had gone missing over the course of a year, reported The Times-News (http://bit.ly/1qThO1A). Idaho State Police found two of Drakos' employees with livestock they couldn't provide ownership documentation for and alerted the local sheriff's office on April 7.
Brand inspector Rick Thompson says police noticed during a routine inspection that multiple calves were branded but had no ownership paperwork.
The calves are valued at a total of $19,200 and are believed to have been stolen sporadically between January 2015 and January 2016.
The two Blackfoot men, both in their 40s, were arrested Friday and charged with 16 counts of grand theft for cattle rustling. They are scheduled for preliminary hearings on Thursday.
Cattle rustling isn't just an old-school cowboy crime, said Bingham County Sheriff Craig Rowland.
"It's kind of sporadic but we've had reported cases up in Wolverine Canyon," he said. Last spring, 19 calves went missing from a grazing pasture in Fremont County and were suspected stolen, while two men in Jefferson County were charged with stealing cattle in February.
Police say calves can become targets to criminals because they're worth about $1,200 each.
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Information from: The Times-News, http://www.magicvalley.com
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