Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
.

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Temecula California: 7 people shot to death at illegal marijuana grow house in Inland Empire

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat TY Borderland Beat follower L.A. Channel 7 & L.A.T

The sheriff’s deputies arrived at the dusty lot east of Temecula a half an hour after midnight on Monday. A caller had reported an assault.

They discovered a gruesome scene: Six people dead from gunshots. A seventh victim, a woman, was still alive, but died shortly after at a hospital.

Along with the bodies, investigators discovered what Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco described as the makings of an “obvious large-scale illegal marijuana processing center.” There were hundreds of plants, a makeshift greenhouse, a lab for using butane to extract valuable THC from pot plants, and more than 1,000 pounds of processed marijuana with a street value in the millions, the sheriff said.

Authorities didn’t identify any of the victims Tuesday. Bianco said his investigators were pursuing a theory that multiple assailants had carried out the killings , and he suggested at a news conference Tuesday evening that the sprawling operation had been overseen by sophisticated criminals.

“This was not that they just happened to be growing marijuana,” he said. “This was a very large operation, a very organized-crime type of an operation.”


California may have created a legal market for marijuana in 2018, but its black market remains robust; growers who raise and harvest their crop illegally can evade expensive licensing fees and other regulatory costs, undercutting their above-board competition.

Violence, law enforcement officials say, is an omnipresent threat with illegal grows. Illicit harvests bring in huge quantities of cash to operators who typically are blocked from using banks or relying on law enforcement for protection. The killings this week add to seven other homicide cases linked to illegal marijuana operations that Riverside County detectives have investigated this year, the sheriff said.

Bianco said at least 20 people were living on the property in the small community of Aguanga on the edge of the Cleveland National Forest, which included a house, a trailer and other makeshift dwellings. The victims were found “in or around” one of the structures, although the sheriff didn’t say which one. Bianco declined to say whether any guns were found at the property.

Trash littered the grounds Tuesday. Women’s clothing and soda bottles were strewn across the trailer’s front porch. A pickup was parked out front, its doors flung open to show clothing draped on the seats and an envelope on the floor marked "$8,300.”


Behind the trailer was a greenhouse, its cover torn open. Grow plugs, used to sprout marijuana seedlings, were scattered on the ground. Six metal folding chairs had been arrayed in a row; a seventh was nearby, empty boxes of pizza and water bottles stacked atop it.

Taped to the home’s front door was a handwritten note that read in English, ‘Welcome to our home, please take your shoe off before enter the house,” and a similar message beneath it in Lao, the primary language spoken in Laos. All of the witnesses interviewed at the scene were Laotian, Bianco said.

On Tuesday morning, Eric Nguyen, 29, came to the property to retrieve his clothes from the house. Nguyen, who lives in Ohio, said he had come to California to seek medical treatment and visit marijuana dispensaries. He said he didn’t witness the shooting but encountered sheriff’s investigators when he returned to the home.

Nguyen said he and others staying in the home were friends of the owner. Authorities have yet to conclusively identify the property’s owner, but they believe the home was being rented out, Bianco said.

The sheriff said his department’s probe would be complex and span state lines. “This is not going to be an easy investigation,” he said.

From NBC San Diego:

An illegal marijuana growing operation where seven people were fatally shot in a small, rural Southern California town had the markings of organized crime, authorities said Tuesday.

More than 20 people lived on the property, which had several makeshift dwellings, a nursery and vehicles used in production, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said. Marijuana was processed to honey oil, a highly potent concentrate made by extracting the high-inducing chemical THC from cannabis.

Over 1000 pounds and hundreds of plants were seized.

Note:: Aguanga, is a small rural community near Temecula, in the “Inland Empire” with a population of 1100.

51 comments:

  1. Wow- this should get interesting quick

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It’s been awhile since something like that has happened. I remember something similar in the 90s at a big marijuana grow house in fall brook,CA one of the dead had a sign left on him and they propped him up. It was said to be cartel related not sure if I remember if it had been done by AFO or CDS.

      Delete
    2. Happens all the time.

      Delete
    3. @833 is there Any article about this sounds interesting ???

      Delete
    4. @8:56 i’ll look around for it. It’s really old though if i find it I’ll post it on here.

      Delete
  2. But this doesn't happen in the USA because buff gun owners stop it all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What do the words “illegal grow house” dont you understand? And what is the purpose of your comment anyways?

      Go look up most illegal grow op busts in Cali, specifically Northern, and 9/10 you will find it ran/maintained by migrants from other countries, specifically MX..

      Delete
    2. See more of this

      Delete
    3. Its criminals killing criminals.....also its California where its illegal for most lawful people to own guns.

      Delete
    4. Not true.

      Only assault weapons such as AR15. There are severe limitations against owning, transferring or selling assault weapons since 2019.

      Delete
    5. 5:19 you are the joker.
      Lawfull people can buy a gun.
      Criminals cannot.
      I currently own Glock 9mm,
      AR-15, 12 guauge shotgun.
      Home protection.

      Delete
    6. 7:17 I doubt the weapons used for these murders were bought after the 2019 limitations.
      Illegal grifa has a very good market, and customers are not after CANABIDIOL CBD at all, real criminals are not going to allow newcomers and laotians to steal their PRIME BEEF and potatoes from them, these ones sure stole a big customer, i hope they kept records.

      Delete
    7. It don't happen cause the media don't want you to know it happens. Thanks BB posting the truth

      Delete
    8. Here is the law. IBTW it was grandfathered in, however at our ranch in California mountains I threw ours in the lake.
      I never fired it but thought it was best resting at the bottom of the lake. Law says I couldn’t sell it or I think not even transfer it.

      Anyway here is the law https://lawcenter.giffords.org/assault-weapons-in-california/

      Delete
    9. 2:44 the OWNERS of most illegal grows are not illegal mexicans, or laotian, and i am sure the renters aren't either...
      It is like money laundering churches and the Banks, they firmly believe once illegal money gets in their hands it has become blessed, legal and untouchable, i hope you can legally understand parts of this.

      Delete
  3. It still boggles my mind to hear about so many cartel run grow operations in California... Southern California I can understand being more likely to see one, but go look up all of illegal cartel grow operations in Cali and you’ll notice that most are not just in Northern Cal, specifically pot meccas like Humboldt or Mendecino!!

    Is it because the criminals believe they are being clever by “hiding out in the open”? Aka trying to blend in with the many others?

    If they haven’t learned yet, and despite their sizes, the communities themselves are actually quite small, and most people tend to know everyone.. That being said, and the fact that the cat is out of the bag.. I would hope they learn their lesson...

    Why? Well these bastards are only contributing to the stigma of marijuana being a “drug market” still, and its crap like this that eventually further delays other states from jumping on board...

    Who knows? If the cartels are as clever as they appear to be, maybe it’s all an intentional process entirely??

    Profit by growing illegally directly in the US, check!

    Sabotage national legalization by often including violence as well, check!

    I mean go look at the recent illegal grow busts in northern cal.. weren’t there a few involving kidnappings and murders???

    Please do not call me paranoid either, it’s merely speculation if their behavior is completlely intentional here, or not.

    ReplyDelete
  4. But,but,but they said if we legalized pot it would reduce violent crime significantly.

    Si como no.

    -Sol Prendido

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Murder is not the issue. And furthermore, legalization is the way to go, but not as it has been tried. Too many regs and taxes allowing black-market to continue being an attractive option.
      Legalization was not ready for primetime. Some of our followers could do a better job at structuring legalization in an efficient and beneficial way for everyone.

      Delete
    2. But, but they may have been killed because of money they won at a casino, mota had nothing to do with it.

      Delete
    3. 12:09 grifa is ready to be made legal, but politicians and their lobbyists and businessmen mouths watering over all the billions of "tax dollars" from grifa to spend on campaigns and hoes and themselves made it full of sheyet, the usual.
      To be legal it must be real cheap, government supervised and tax free where nobody can compete, just like a free social service, there would be no reason to entice entire new generations of mariguanos for their money if it is cheap enough.

      Delete
  5. Clever comment, except Commiefornia has strict gun laws and no concealed carry, or maybe some would have lived.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 4:51 speaks out of culo chorriento as California absolutely has a concealed carry law but you have to take classes, have a legit reason to carry, pass a background check, legally be able to own a handgun and get the permit from the local authorities. No nomas escribas porque tienes un aparato buey!

      Delete
    2. California, 5th largest economy in the world.

      Delete
  6. All victims were Loatians. Probably conflict among themselves. Paisas can pack 10 times the weed on a panga and have it dropped off in Santa Barbara county. It’s not worth the headache.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Santa Barbara A safe Home for MAJOR Crime Bosses
      Amazing that they can leave in peace there
      Hemet Inand Empire full Of Loas
      Mexicans Chineses populatiin
      they have lived there for yrs
      An old joke was if your dogs cats went missing Do Not eat at a Manderain or other Asian resturant they been there since 1970s Dosent any one remember history they resettled 1000s in Riverside countys San Bernadino counties..

      They operated many illegal buther shops One lady had 3 dogs hanging in her apartment
      ready for her familys soup to sell to public 1980

      Delete
    2. Doubt conflict among themselves because mexican animals, i mean criminals are more likely to murder like this over business like that, and they are the ones defending turf, blacks and whites won't be farmeros over more than seis macetas.
      But mexican braseros will, and want more and more land, come think of it thw owner was prolly approached first with a deal over that land and he refused.

      Delete
    3. Local stuff tend to be better. Mexican weed for the most part tends to be of garbage quality.

      Delete
    4. 10:31 well, garbage likes garbage, but snobs with money grow into suckers with a hard to beat addiction to "kush" and will blow their entire life's paychecks seeking that "higher and higher low..."

      Delete
  7. Lot of Cartels want to rule areas through out California, this Laoian group did not have a stronghold, hope the lady that died at the hospital, gave a dying declaration as to who did it. Inland empire also what came about the 3 persons killed at the cemetery, by the suspect they caught..we never found out the motive and furthermore BB ran an article on the restaurant employee, who headed to Michoacan in a late model Range Rover.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I thought anyone could use and grow Mota in California???? Why so much regulations??? Do they have Regulations in Colorado????

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Growing two or three plants for yourself is legal. Growing hundreds of plants without a license is illegal.

      Delete
    2. 6:57 these guys do not grow for the locals, most califa grifa goes to other states...
      Regulations are neesed to keep the lowly ignorant poor broke ass from getting into it big time, the mophakas won't pay taxes and who wants to collect their small taxes and fees?
      --Naw, get your bibi and go back to sleep.

      Delete
  9. There is a rumor it is connected to one of the employees winning about 9k at a casino near by where they were followed from there and robbed. I think that is the envelope with the “8300” on it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So someone robbed/killed all these people- left 1000 pounds of herb behind- AND the 9000 they went there for???
      Smart criminals- mustve been mexicans

      Delete
    2. Pechanga and pala are the big casinos near by and asians love to gamble but to kill 7 people for 9k here in the states is a lil too much to believe. They live in a rural area if they were being followed it will be obvious and I'm sure since they had such a big grow operation they had to be cautious of people near by their place. so they would notice someone following them. Or I could be wrong it could've been that and people followed them took the money and some weed. But to kill 7 people over a small time robbery seems so excessive. I think these people were taking away customers from another cartels operation and costing them a lot of money

      Delete
    3. Highly unlikely they got bak 8k after taxes, maybe i could be wrong & in California casinos its different but i doubt it. If they won 9k after taxes they would take back atelast 5k

      Delete
  10. Wow. And it’s seemed nearly all those arrested at grow sites/homes in the area are Asian descent not Mexican.

    ReplyDelete
  11. a lot ppl from laos and china from minnesota have places like that all over califas.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Only van grow a small amount for personal use. Black market marijuana is a big market. Dispensaries sell an ounce for $50 for cheap stuff much more for good weed

    ReplyDelete
  13. Pure speculation, but I wonder if the record heat wave and rolling blackouts over the weekend in California had an effect on the crops and it turned ugly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A lot of these illegal grows are off the grid powered by either solar power or gas generators

      Delete
    2. This is true...but I wonder if the 120° temps had an impact at all.

      Delete
    3. The local heat wave lasted 2 days. Yes the Marijuana plants fought with the loas due to not being feed enough water.

      Delete
    4. 8:18 local heat wave has califas burning all the way to Canada, get your motherfacking glasses sugar, next you know Siberia will be the burning a hole to china and prolly another to El chapo's cell.

      Delete
    5. Nor Cal has growers dealing with ASH.
      Blowers rule right now, if their crop has not already gone up in smoke AND flames. Inside grow Black Market prices are gonna go up.
      I agree that LEGAL is the way to go, but I cannot see black market going anywhere soon. So much goes EAST.

      Don’t forget The Hmong people and the Bulgarian mafia too.
      Big time.

      Delete
  14. I found it odd that a cartel would want to attract so much attention. Them being Laos I don't think it was cartel related. At least Mexican cartel related

    ReplyDelete
  15. Aaian pandillas are low key. I'm guessing an internal beef.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chinese ones are the low key Ones

      Delete
  16. All these people growing , smuggling , selling or using illegal drugs need to face the same fate as these worthless dead victims.
    Para acabar con la rabia a que matar el perro .

    ReplyDelete
  17. I doubt it was an inner squabble. That exact place is only a few miles away from a border patrol check point. To top it off the actual border isn’t too far from there either. Someone probably didn’t pay piso. It is know that cartels grow illegally in California sierras.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stealing other people's clients is a no no.
      "A Wise Monkey is a Monkey who doesn't Monkey with another Monkey's Monkey"
      An old saw from the 70s

      Delete

Comments are moderated, refer to policy for more information.
Envía fotos, vídeos, notas, enlaces o información
Todo 100% Anónimo;

borderlandbeat@gmail.com