Detectives served a search warrant at a building in Santa Ana for an illegal pot distribution on Tuesday, police said.
Santa Ana police and California state police stormed the building on the 3600 block of West Pendleton Avenue at around noon.
“They ended up busting out the doors here, and they ended up busting out the windows and sending flashbangs in because there were people hiding in the bathroom that wouldn’t come out,” Darren Hansen, the building owner’s son, told NBC Los Angeles.
Hansen says he and the owner had no idea their tenants were involved in such an operation.
“We rented this building out to some people who said they were using it for storage, and they would come and go with boxes, but come to find out they had marijuana vapes in here,” he said.
He gave NBCLA access to the building, where several items that appear to be vape pens and other materials were found in a number of the rooms.
Video of the bust shows several people being detained. Darren said nearly a half a dozen were taken into custody.
Hansen says he and his family are stunned that this was taking place right under their noses.
“When you rent to somebody, you have no idea what they do,” he said. “We don’t go inside the tenant’s places. You don’t have permission.”
NBCLA has reached out to Santa Ana police for more information but is waiting to hear back.