Authorities suspect gang members involved in 7 killings at marijuana grow

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say they suspect gang members of Laotian descent were involved in the 2020 shooting deaths of seven people at an illegal marijuana growing operation in a small, rural Southern California town.

Riverside County Sheriff’s investigators also have identified a mid-size, dark-colored SUV that was believed to be used during the killings in the remote community of Aguanga, the agency said in a news release.

Authorities said they believe the killings were a targeted incident and will discuss the investigation at a news conference Friday.

The announcement comes more than four years after the killing of seven victims, all who were Laotian. 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. More 1,000 marijuana plants and several hundred pounds of processed marijuana were found at the site.

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.