Six Arrested for Marijuana Operation, Cockfighting and Other Charges
SACRAMENTO COUNTY —Six people have been arrested in connection with the cultivation and sale of marijuana, in addition to other offenses that include the illegal possession of firearms and animal cruelty.
The Southern California connection – Daniel Espinoza and Steven Santana.
On Monday, July 6, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s North Problem Oriented Policing (POP) team—working with the Sheriff’s Department Central POP team, Rancho Cordova Police Department POP team, Sheriff’s Impact/Narcotics detectives, Placer County Special Investigations Unit, El Dorado County WNET, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force (HIDTA), CalMet, Mountain and Valley Marijuana Investigation Team (MAVMIT) investigators, and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Enforcement Detail— searched multiple properties in Antelope suspected of illegally cultivating marijuana for sale. Antelope is a Sacramento County community located between North Highlands and Roseville.
The six people arrested were Chan Meng Saetern, 53, McMahony Sou Saetern, 29, Ou Chio Saetern, 28, Koy Orn Saeteurn, 53, Daniel Espinoza, 38, and Steven Santana, 27. The four Saeterns all reside at the property in Antelope that was searched, while Espinoza and Santana are from Southern California. Espinoza is from San Bernardino and Santana is from Buena Park.
The Saetern property on 28th Street.
The properties searched are in rural east Antelope, near Watt Avenue and Elverta Road. During the search at a property on Angus Way, down a dead-end road off of the Highland Manor housing development, 950 plants and 200 pounds of processed marijuana were discovered, worth a street value of approximately $4.5 million. Evidence of bird fighting was also discovered with more than 100 birds removed from the property by Sacramento County Animal Control officers. The Saetern’s main property is on 28th Street across from the Cherry Island Golf Course, and backs up to the Angus Way property. Both are next to Goat Creek.
Other charges included bird fighting, also known as cockfighting; illegal possession of firearms, and a Fish and Game code violation relating to disrupting the water flow of Goat Creek and unlawful stream bed alteration, a serious water diversion effort, especially during a critical drought. Those charges, however, were limited to the Saeterns – Espoinoza and Santana were only booked on the marijuana cultivation, sales, and conspiracy violations.
Ongoing Sacramento County neighborhood issues that citizens are aware of can be reported by contacting Sacramento Sheriff’s Department dispatch at (916) 874-5115, contacting their local POP officers, or reaching out to each patrol area commander on Nextdoor.com.
