Nearly nine pounds of marijuana, and more than 2600 marijuana plants were seized in multiple raids in the Desert Heights neighborhood of Twentynine Palms Wednesday morning. The Sheriff’s Department had received numerous complaints about large, outdoor illegal marijuana grows in the area, and about 9 a.m. Wednesday, investigators from the Marijuana Enforcement Team served four search warrants on locations in the area; they seized 8.9 pounds of processed marijuana and 2,665 marijuana plants. While serving the search warrants, deputies found a hidden bunker that had been dug into the ground; inside were two men, Victor Hipolito-Estrada, 20, and Jose Rico-Garcia, 35, both of Mexico. Deputies arrested Hipolito-Estrada, Rico-Garcia; and Alexis Frias, 34, of Mendocino, for investigation of cultivation of cannabis. Victor Hipolito-Estrada, Jose Rico-Garcia, and Alexis Frias were booked into the Morongo Basin Jail, cited and released.
