Agents seize 6,000 pounds of marijuana in Sun City

State and regional law enforcement agents seized 6,000 pounds of marijuana worth $2.5 million from a small warehouse behind a Sun City home Wednesday afternoon and arrested six people on suspicion of trying to distribute the pot.

Ernie Limon, a special agent supervisor with the state Justice Department's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, said a warehouse behind a home in the 27000 block of Murrieta Boulevard in a sparsely populated area of Sun City may have been used to store and distribute narcotics for some time.

It was discovered after California Highway Patrol officers stopped a minivan for a traffic violation just after 4 p.m. on Murrieta Boulevard. Officers say they spotted 16 bundles of marijuana in plain sight in the back of the minivan. They called the Inland Cities Allied Crime Task Force, a team of law enforcement officers from agencies such as the San Bernardino County and Riverside County sheriff's and probation departments, Limon said by phone.

After questioning the two men in the van, officers raided the home. There they found more than 260 bundles of marijuana weighing 18 to 22 pounds apiece in the backyard warehouse, Limon said. Two firearms also were found.

"When you find that quantity of marijuana, you know they were warehousing it and distributing it to other areas," Limon said. "It wasn't their first time."

Limon could not recall that much marijuana found in a single case in the Sun City area. He has been with the state's narcotics enforcement agency for 15 years.

He said officers were just starting the investigation to determine where the marijuana came from and where it was going and who else may have been involved.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday that the state's marijuana crop is on pace to be the largest in history, with much of it making its way to the East Coast, according to drug enforcement agents.

Though Limon said he believes the marijuana taken Wednesday may have been brought in from Mexico, it's likely to have been headed for the East Coast, where it can fetch higher prices than out West.

Police arrested Eloy Perez, 33, of Sun City; Rogelio Garcia, 65, of Coachella; Valentin Gonzalez, 29, of Coachella; Horacio Felix, 20, of Sun City; Martin Salazar, 22, of Sun City; and Marcio Inzunza, 42, of Sun City. They were booked into the Southwest Detention Center in French Valley on suspicion of marijuana possession with intent to distribute, Limon said.

The U.S. Border Patrol was questioning the six men to determine citizenship status. The owner of the home was not there at the time but is also under investigation, Limon said.