The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Drug Enforcement Unit served two search warrants on 22 May 2018 to investigate illegal cannabis cultivation off Rancho Sequoia Drive near Alderpoint, with wardens and biologists from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, CAL FIRE officers, county environmental health and HAZMAT staff, code enforcement and State Water Board personnel assisting.[1][2]

Three parcels were investigated: two had no commercial cannabis permit with the county and the third parcel’s application had been withdrawn.[1][2] Deputies found eight greenhouses, six of them fitted with grow lights for year-round cultivation, and eradicated 10,609 growing marijuana plants.[1][2]

Eight people were detained; Hector Merdrano Escalante, 37, of Redway was arrested for felony cultivation of marijuana, conspiracy to commit a crime, streambed alteration without a permit and depositing hazardous material in or near a waterway.[1][2] Wildlife biologists recorded sediment-delivery water pollution, trash deposition in a stream, stream alteration and water diversion violations, while county officers added grading, building, sewage, solid-waste and HAZMAT violations, including 1,900 gallons of diesel fuel and 220 gallons of waste oil stored on one parcel.[1][2]