A Florida man faces multiple criminal charges in connection with two horse poaching incidents including the death of a horse in Miami Gardens butchered for its meat.

The horse was discovered in dead and mutilated in its paddock on Sept. 9. The killing was among 20 similar incidents currently under investigation. Since January, the butchered remains of at least 17 horses have been found in Miami-Dade County. In May, two horses were discovered dead and mutilated in a field in nearby Miramar.

Luis Miguel Cordero, 18, confessed to the Miami Gardens incident after Miami-Dade Police arrested him in the pasture of a Northwest Miami-Dade County ranch on Sept. 15.

Police learned of the poaching attempt when a neighbor called the Crime Stoppers line to report that Cordero planned to kill and butcher the horses and sell their meat