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Investigators believe the suspects were gang members of Laotian
descent from the San Diego area. Riverside County Sheriff Chad
Bianco said the agency faces a “major obstacle” obtaining
information because at least some witnesses and victims entered
the U.S. illegally and may have been victims of human
trafficking.
Migrants who were working at the farm may fear retribution and
distrust law enforcement, Bianco said. Many are from countries
where law enforcement is “corrupt and further victimize the
victims,” he added.
“When these immigrants come to our country, that fear of law
enforcement makes them easy targets of crime because the
suspects know that the victims will be reluctant to cooperate
with the criminal investigation, or they may not report the
crime at all. This case has been an example of that," Bianco
said.
“We know there are people out there who have additional
information about these murders and the identity of the
suspects,” he added.
Investigators have identified a mid-size, dark-colored SUV that
was believed to be used during the killings in the remote
community of Aguanga, the sheriff's department said in a news
release.
Bianco described the killings as a part of a “home-invasion type
robbery” carried out to obtain money. He noted that a
significant amount of cannabis was left behind.
Six people were found dead on the property, and a woman who was
shot there died later at a hospital.
More than 20 people lived on the property, which had makeshift
dwellings and a nursery. Authorities found more 1,000 marijuana
plants and several hundred pounds of processed marijuana.
The state broadly legalized recreational marijuana sales in
January 2018. But the illicit market continued, partly because
hefty legal marijuana taxes sent consumers looking for better
deals in the illegal economy.
Aguanga is a small mountainous community about 50 miles (80
kilometers) northeast of San Diego with horse ranches along dirt
roads.
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