EL MIRAGE, Calif. – Five men have been arrested in connection with the drug-related shooting deaths of six people whose bodies were located in a remote part of the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, authorities said on Monday. Deputies said the killings were related to a “dispute over marijuana.”
Detectives with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department believe the homicide victims decided to meet up at the isolated desert location as part of an “illicit marijuana” sale before chaos erupted, authorities said during a Monday evening press conference.
Four of the deceased men’s bodies were shot and partially burned in one vehicle. A fifth victim was located in a second automobile, while the sixth victim was discovered dead a short distance away, San Bernardino Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Warrick said.
The five suspects arrested on Sunday were identified as Toniel Baez-Duarte, 34, of Apple Valley, Mateo Baez-Duarte, 24, of Apple Valley, Jose Nicolas Hernandez-Sarabia, 33, of Adelanto, Jose Gregorio Hernandez-Sarabia, 34 of Adelanto and Jose Manuel Burgos Parra, 26, of Adelanto, FOX 11 Los Angeles reported.
Three of the victims were identified as Baldemar Mondragon-Albarran, 34, Franklin Noel Bonilla, 22, and Kevin Dariel Bonilla, 25, the sheriff’s office said.
A 45-year-old male victim has also been identified, but his name has not yet been released pending family notification. Investigators are still tying to identify the final two victims, KTLA reported.
The mass-murder occurred in the Mojave Desert off Highway 395 about 20 miles northwest of Adelanto on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at about 8:15 p.m. A Spanish speaking man called 911 to say he had been shot, according to the sheriff’s department.
Deputies responded to the area and, with assistance from a California Highway Patrol airship, they soon located five bodies and two vehicles, one riddled with bullet holes. However, the sixth victim was not discovered until later, a few hundred feet away from the primary crime scene, Law Officer reported last week.
San Bernardino County Sherrif Shannon Dicus said that detectives used human and technological sources to identify and locate the suspects.
“From the moment we started this investigation, we started to receive strong leads,” Dicus said. “After I was briefed, I was quite confident that we would be able to get the subjects that were involved in this homicide into custody.”
Eight firearms were recovered during the investigation.
The sheriff said the area has an ongoing problem related to illegal marijuana farming, the New York Post reported.
“For all intents and purposes, it looks like illicit marijuana was the driving force behind these murders and that’s all we really know at this point,” Dicus said, while also emphasizing that it was part of organized crime.
Dicus pointed out that California voters passed Proposition 64 in 2016, which has led to a burgeoning illegal marijuana market, reported KTLA.
“The reality is Proposition 64, took illicit marijuana and moved it from a felony to a misdemeanor,” Dicus said. “The reality of this is by allowing that, we have unleashed a plague here in California. The plague is the black market of marijuana and certainly cartel activity.”
Proposition 64 was known as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act. It was a voter initiative to legalize cannabis in California and passed with 57 percent voter approval, which led to recreational cannabis sales in the state by January 2018.
All five suspects were booked on murder charges. They are currently being held without bail as prosecutors review the case against them.
