Acting on a narcotics warrant, SWAT officers removed 23 people from an Earlington Hill home early Wednesday morning that has drawn police attention and citizen complaints for years.

One person was arrested on the narcotics warrant and five others were arrested on other charges, according to Renton Police Commander David Leibman.

“We knew there would be a lot of people,” Leibman said. “We didn’t anticipate 23 people in a 1,300-square-foot house.”

Officers blocked off a short stretch of Earlington Avenue Southwest after about 5 a.m. between Southwest Sunset Boulevard and Southwest Third Street.

SWAT officers surrounded the house at 370 Earlington Avenue S.W. and a negotiator inside one of the SWAT vehicles called the house by phone but no one answered.

The negotiator then ordered the occupants from the house, which took some time. A few more left the house after SWAT set off a loud distraction device about 5:35 a.m. that many in the neighborhood heard.

Finally, the SWAT slowly and deliberately searched the three-bedroom house and found more people hiding inside. Once the house was cleared, detectives began to process the home’s interior and exterior for evidence, which continued through mid-morning.

Investigators placed evidence tags on items removed from the house, including two bikes and golf clubs. A narcotics dog searched the house for drugs.

An animal-control officer led away two pet dogs from the house and a third apparently was still secured at the property.

Renton Police officers have responded to numerous calls at the house in recent years, ranging from warrants, to assaults, to stolen vehicles to a recent drive-by shooting. Those complaints and Wednesday’s drug raid could form part of the basis for the city considering whether the property violates the city’s nuisance ordinance.

There is a pending criminal case against the owner for unlawful deposit or storage of garbage, according to Shane Moloney, the assistant city attorney.

The narcotics warrant served was the result of a separate drug investigation that led narcotics detectives to the house, according to Leibman, and wasn’t directly related to the city’s nuisance ordinance.

Neighbors stopped to watch as police first removed the occupants from the house and then processed the scene.

“It’s been distressful, seeing some of the things that go on up and down the street. The foot traffic, the bicycle traffic,” said neighbor Anita Hardy, who was walking her dog. “You can tell it’s unsavory.”

There’s screaming and yelling in the street and the dogs are allowed to run off-leash, she said.

She had no idea there were such ongoing issues when she moved in with her family in fall 2013.

“I am glad to see this happen,” she said.