Members of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Marijuana Enforcement Team and Victor Valley Sheriff’s Station conducted investigations resulting in the service of 4 search warrants at locations in the unincorporated community of El Mirage. The locations did not have physical addresses assigned to them and were identified through the San Bernardino County Assessor’s database. All were found to have large outdoor marijuana cultivations occurring on the properties. Investigators determined the marijuana cultivation operations were illegal and not in compliance with California medical marijuana laws and/or the County of San Bernardino ordinance prohibiting outdoor marijuana cultivation.
The investigations resulted in the seizure of over 500 marijuana plants, 115 pounds of recently harvested marijuana being packaged for sales, 8 firearms and the arrests of 10 suspects. The large amount of marijuana seized at the individual locations suggests the suspects had no intention of abiding by California’s medical marijuana laws and were strictly for-profit operations.
At one of the locations, deputies arrested Jesus Casas for violating the terms of his probation. Casas was arrested and convicted of Sales of a Controlled Substance in Santa Clara County and later released on Post Release Community Supervision or PRCS. An arrest warrant was issued for his arrest by authorities in the Santa Clara County. He was arrested without incident.
At two of the locations deputies recovered several firearms, including a modified or short-barrel shotgun and two bullet proof vests. One of the suspects told deputies he was growing the marijuana and taking it to several marijuana dispensaries in the Los Angeles area and selling it to them.
Most of the marijuana seized at the locations was being trimmed and packaged for sale. At this time, it is unknown where the marijuana was being taken to, but it is believed that it would have been sold illegally on the street. At this time, there is no evidence to show the locations were related to each other and were determined to be separate cultivation operations.
The County of San Bernardino has an ordinance prohibiting outdoor marijuana cultivations. The Sheriff’s Gangs/Narcotics Division will continue to enforce California marijuana laws as well as the San Bernardino County Ordinances regarding marijuana cultivation and distribution. Persons found to be violating state marijuana laws and/or county ordinances are subject to fines, prosecution and seizure of property.
Location #1 near Blanco Rd. & Ridgecrest Rd., El Mirage (APN 0462-092-72-0000)
151 marijuana plants and 30 pounds of processed marijuana seized
2 firearms, 1 ballistic (bullet-proof) vest
Juan Solorio-Torres, age 31, (Gilroy, CA), Sergio Castro, age 24, (Palmdale, CA), Yesenia Meza, age 30, (Pixley, CA), charged with Cultivation of Marijuana / Posses *All suspects were arrested and booked*
Location #2 near Blanco Rd. & Ridgecrest Rd., El Mirage (APN 0462-092-61-0000)
164 marijuana plants seized
No suspects arrested/detained
Location #3 near Blanco Rd. & Ridgecrest Rd., El Mirage (APN 0462-092-30-0000)
104 marijuana plants and 40 pounds of processed marijuana seized
Eulalio Lopez-Camacho, age 31, (San Jose, CA), Jose Lopez-Cabrera, age 27, (San Jose, CA), Martin Ponce, age 48, (San Jose, CA), Rafael Camacho, age 28, (San Jose, CA), Ojoniez Cuevas, age 40, (San Jose, CA), Eulalio Lopez-Salas, age 59, (San Jose, CA), Jesus Casas, age 30, (San Jose, CA) *pending charges of Cultivation of Marijuana*
Location #4 near Blanco Rd. & Mercia Rd., El Mirage (APN 0462-172-25-0000)
115 marijuana plants and 45 pounds of processed marijuana seized
6 firearms, 1 ballistic (bullet-proof) vest
No suspects arrested/detained
Anyone with information regarding the above investigations or other illegal cultivation locations is urged to contact the Sheriff’s Gangs/Narcotics Division at (909)890-4840. Callers wishing to remain anonymous are urged to call the We-tip Hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME (27463) or you may leave information on the We-Tip Hotline at www.wetip.com.