Fifteen greenhouses, seven outdoor grows in Hyampom bust

On Tuesday 07/11/2017, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office’s Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) served a search warrant to investigate an allegation of illegal cultivation of marijuana. The parcel in question had no application on file with Humboldt County Building and Planning and no permits issued for the cultivation of commercial marijuana. 

The search warrant was served in the area of Hyampom just west of the Trinity County line. The following agencies assisted DEU with this investigation: Wardens from California Fish and Wildlife, Biologist from California Fish and Wildlife, CAL Fire officers, specialist from the Humboldt County Environmental Health and HAZMAT Unit, Humboldt County Code Enforcement officers, and personnel from the California Army National Guard Counter Drug Unit.

Upon responding to the parcel, several Hispanic subjects were observed running from the greenhouses and into the brush. No subjects were detained by law enforcement. DEU documented fifteen (15) greenhouses on the property containing growing marijuana plants. Seven (7) outdoor marijuana grows were also documented on this parcel. A total of 5,491 marijuana plants were eradicated on the property. The property was registered to an LLC. The LLC involved with the property is still under investigation.

California Fish and Wildlife conducted a parallel investigation this parcel and discovered 1 stream bed alteration, 3 separate water diversions, and 1 violation of beneficial storage of water. This is a State Water Board violation and will be forwarded for further follow up.

Humboldt County Environmental Health and HAZMAT conducted a parallel investigation and discovered 1 count of failure to submit a HAZAMAT plan for the storage of kerosene.

CAL Fire officers conducted a parallel investigation and discovered the following violations:

Timber slash violation and 9 violations of operating without a timber conversion permit.

 Humboldt County Code Enforcement officers conducted a parallel investigation and discovered the following violations: Grading without a permit, Construction without a permit, solid waste disposal violations, unapproved sewage disposal, junk vehicle violations, and commercial marijuana cultivation ordinance violations.

 All criminal violations stemming from the marijuana cultivation investigation will be forwarded to the District Attorney’s office for review. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office maintains a cooperative relationship with all agencies that participated in this investigation. All future investigations into non-compliant marijuana operations will continue to be investigated in this manner.