Local authorities are conducting an ongoing investigation into the goings-on at the house, but they indicated there was little they could do when the squatters returned for items they stored at the property.

Sammamish is approximately 20 miles east of Seattle.

“The amount of guns, drugs, etcetera that were confiscated out of that place are not for personal use or for any good reason,” Sammamish Police Chief Dan Pingrey told KIRO.

In mid-May, Pingrey said police found 12 guns, bulletproof vests, and more than $40,000 in cash at the property. He said there was also an enormous stockpile of drugs in the house: 15,000 fentanyl pills, heroin and meth.

The owner of the home lives overseas but has local people help maintain the property by doing routine checkups. One of the local helpers had stopped by when the discovery was made of all the contraband inside and the fact that people had been seemingly living there uninvited.

Police said two people who were squatting at the house were arrested for burglary, but they were released from jail days later. Once free, the suspects returned to the house accompanied by what Pingrey described as a “large group” to reclaim the property inside that they said belonged to them.

“I totally recognize how frustrating it is for the neighborhood and it’s just as frustrating for us to be honest with you,” Pingrey said.

He said that legally, there was nothing the police could do.

Pingrey said he followed the advice of local prosecutors and lawyers and found law enforcement was limited in what they could do. When the squatters demanded to be allowed inside to take property with them, the chief said officers could only conduct a “civil standby.”

The Sammamish Police Department is a contract partner of the King County Sheriff’s Office.

In their televised report, KIRO-TV shared photographs taken by a neighbor that showed police officers watching as people filled a U-Haul truck. One picture showed the house’s garage full of appliances and an ATM.

“We were not allowed to go in there with them and had to allow them to take this property out,” Pingrey said. “Somehow these squatters who are living in this residence have as much rights as the homeowner. And that’s very difficult for any of us to understand.”

KIRO-TV reporter Kevin Ko said a worker for the homeowner came to the property while he was covering the story on Monday. He said the worker changed the locks and a security technician also came to the house.

Newsweek contacted Pingrey for further comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.