Northern California Sheriff links woman's murder on Round Valley Indian Reservation to cannabis, transnational cartels
Josepha Littlewolf Basurto was 31 and a mother of four. Sheriff Matt Kendall asks Trump admin to intervene in Northern California's "dark underbelly."
Josepha Littlewolf Thunderheart Basurto, age 31, was found shot to death in a pickup truck near the Round Valley Indian Reservation northwest of Covelo, California. Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall believes her murder is connected to “transnational drug organizations and illegal marijuana cultivation.”
Her death comes amid longstanding concerns over violence, illegal cannabis cultivation, and cartel presence in Northern California's rural and tribal communities.
Basurto was found July 9 in a Toyota Tacoma off Rifle Range Road near what the sheriff’s office described as a large marijuana cultivation site.
Deputies received a 911 call at approximately 8:58 pm from a woman who reported finding her family member dead in a vehicle at the 22000 block of Rifle Range Road after an hours-long search for her. Deputies observed multiple gunshots to the vehicle. Basurto was confirmed dead of a gunshot wound to the torso at 9:17 pm.
Basurto leaves behind a husband and four children aged 4 to 13, according to her mother Sharlisa Mountainlion Unca Sam. Family members remember Basurto as a horse trainer and powwow dancer who loved her children and was deeply connected to her Native traditions and community.
The following day, three individuals were arrested at the grow site where Basurto’s body was found. Jesus Hernandez Sosa, Franklin Ironbear Oliver, and Laura Gabriela Menta were booked on cannabis cultivation-related charges; police have not said whether their arrests are connected to the murder.
“Dark underbelly”
For years, residents of Round Valley have raised concerns about illegal marijuana cultivation sites operating on and around tribal lands. Community members and local law enforcement say the issue has brought violence, environmental damage, human trafficking, and drug trafficking to the area.
A report by the Yurok Tribal Court and Sovereign Bodies Institute documented 105 missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in Northern California alone between 1900 and 2020. Round Valley, Hoopa Valley, and Yurok tribes were among the most represented. Advocates say violence associated with drug trafficking and the isolation of rural tribal communities can make investigations difficult.
“We continue to see just massive amounts of violence including illegal weapons, human trafficking, anything you can think of that is connected to that dark underbelly, that is what we’re seeing in Northern California right now,” says Kendall. “It’s all associated with illegal grows.”
One Round Valley resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said violence on the reservation is escalating.
“The cartels have brought us increased violence and increased murder. There’s always been some homicide here but in the past number of years there’s been way more.”
Cartels exploit the lack of law enforcement on tribal lands, the resident says.
“There’s people missing and we know they were tied to grows. There’s kids being trafficked who show up at the high school. There’s increased access to illicit drugs especially fentanyl. There’s a lot of burglary. There’s mountains and mountains and mountains of garbage and junk. It’s all connected to the cartels.”
Sheriff asks federal government to step in
Kendall has called for the Trump administration’s help to combat illegal marijuana operations and associated violent crime in rural Northern California, arguing local agencies lack the manpower and funding necessary to address the problem.
“I have been beating on the door of the federal government, because what we’re seeing here seems to fall right in line with what the president and Kash Patel say they want dealt with. Seems like urban areas are getting attention but rural areas are not. And if you think about it, the resources necessary to deal with these problems are sure as hell not in rural communities.”
He claims Governor Gavin Newsom has not returned his calls for assistance regarding cartel entrenchment and violence in the region.
“It’s become very clear to all of us in Northern California that the current leadership in Sacramento does not want to hear that there are any problems with their legislation,” Kendall says. “If they speak to us, they will have to admit that there are problems and they don’t want that.”
Tribal Council sued sheriffs over cannabis raids
The sheriff’s office claims to receive hundreds of calls a month from the Round Valley Indian Reservation. After ramping up enforcement and cannabis raids at the request of residents, Kendall was among local law enforcement sued by the Tribe for “violating tribal sovereignty.” The lawsuit reflects longstanding tensions between county law enforcement and tribal officials over the scope of police authority on tribal lands and how cannabis enforcement should be conducted.
“They’re trying to make this about race when it was Native people calling me, asking for help,” Kendall says. “I was hammering on the problem until the tribe began suing me.”
In January 2026, a federal judge largely sided with Kendall, ruling that federal law permits California to enforce criminal drug laws on tribal land. The Tribe amended its complaint, and in June 2026 the court let the suit proceed on the narrower claim that the raids enforced regulatory rules rather than criminal law. The case is ongoing.
Kendall adds that, though there are a “disproportionate amount” of missing and murdered people on reservations, county sheriffs do not receive federal funding for their work on tribal lands.
For Kendall, Basurto's death is the direct result of Sacramento’s ambivalence toward transnational drug trafficking and black market cannabis cultivation in rural California.
“If we don’t deal with the people committing these crimes, we’re walking away from the victims.”
The Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force is investigating Basurto’s death along with the DA’s office. Anyone with information should contact the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center at 707-463-4086 (option 1). Information can also be provided anonymously by calling the non-emergency tip-line at 707-234-2100.
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This area of NoCA has a wide range of compelling and unique issues going on, and has had them for a very long time.
Sheriff Kendall should try to increase his life insurance coverage. <s>