The MCSO announced the arrests Thursday, on the heels of 17 arrests and the seizure of more than 3,000 plants Tuesday in Round Valley, a remote community nestled among forested mountains and checkered with land belonging to members of seven tribes in the area.
Sheriff Tom Allman said in addition to the 20 people arrested and booked on suspicion of cultivating and selling marijuana Wednesday, "many" more were arrested and released with citations to appear in court.
The raids began in the Covelo area Tuesday, when the MCSO helped state and federal agents serve five warrants at sites throughout Round Valley, some on tribal land, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the MCSO.
The state Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement is leading the raids, which Smallcomb said continued Thursday and could continue today.
"Our focus is not on medical (marijuana), but there's no need for profiteering," he said.
Authorities served seven warrants Tuesday and continued "open-field raids," throughout the valley, seizing six guns, cash totaling $12,485 and processed marijuana estimated as high as 2,000 pounds.
Smallcomb said open-field searches don't require search warrants because they are on land with no curtilage - common living area.
At a home in the 28500 block of Eel River Road, authorities served a search warrant and seized 101 marijuana plants, about a pound of processed marijuana and $9,985 in cash.
The eight people arrested at the site include: Gordon Wittrock, 49, of Covelo, and Seattle residents Michael Daravong, 28, Sage Framanu, 36, Ritha Van, 29, Phy Run Sun, 26, Manassah Seang, 53, and Tok Kim, 29, and transient Sarhovda Lain, 24.
At a home in the 28900 block of Eel River Road, authorities served a search warrant and seized 86 marijuana plants, "hundreds of pounds" of processed marijuana, according to Smallcomb, and five rifles, and arrested Kelseyville resident Ethan Smith, 20, and Ukiah resident Jose Corona Pulido, 24.
At a home in the 29000 block of Eel River Road, authorities served a search warrant and seized 68 marijuana plants between 12 feet and 15 feet tall and more than 106 pounds of processed marijuana.
Authorities arrested 10 people at the site, including David Luff, 30, of Los Angeles; Sebastian Rogers, 31, of Costa Mesa; Joshua Abbate, 36, of Middletown, NY; Reynaldo Rivera, 35, of Deer Park, NY; Carl Weyant, 26, of Deer Park, NY; Hans Haaland, 27, of Stanfordville, NY; Noel Goluering, 26, of Milan, NY; Joseph Cort, 27, of Hudson, NY; Michael Vincent, 24, of Pine Plains, NY; and Bethany Bonneville, 22, of Pine Plains, NY.
Meanwhile, October court dates are set for arraignments, preliminary hearings and plea entries for at least 12 of the 17 people arrested Tuesday in illegal marijuana garden raids throughout Round Valley.
Round Valley Tribal Police Chief Carlos Rabano said at least one member of a Round Valley tribe had hundreds of marijuana plants growing on his property in plain sight.
Illicit gardens in tribal members' backyards is an increasingly common trend he's seen since the warring tribal and Hispanic communities in the valley started cooperating during the last two years.
"Typically, Hispanic workers get the gardens started for them (tribal members), and they'll often want half of the garden, or they'll give the member a car," Rabano said.
His investigation points to the Mexican mafia, which he believes pays or trades with the members of Round Valley's tribes for the use of their yards for growing marijuana.
Rabano told of a recent incident where sheriff's deputies investigating an unrelated report were shot at when they inadvertently "got too close to a member's garden."
His office tries to stay out of the issue, he said, because of conflict between the Round Valley Tribal Council, which passed an ordinance allowing members to grow 33 plants per person, and his own position, shared by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, that marijuana cultivation is illegal on all federal land.
"This is a problem for the local sheriff's office because they run into guards," he said. "The Mexican mafia threatens the workers' families back in Mexico if they don't keep the gardens safe. That's why they're shooting back at deputies."
Rabano said many Round Valley residents are speculating about why authorities are focusing on Covelo, but added that the marijuana harvest season is young for law enforcement, and he's aware of plans to raid gardens in other Mendocino County communities.
"It's not just Covelo; it's everywhere in Mendocino County," Smallcomb said.
Source: The Ukiah Daily Journal
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