More than $2 million in cargo recovered after train burglaries
By Dean Fioresi
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California (KCAL, KCBS) — Three people were arrested and more than $2 million in stolen train cargo was recovered when San Bernardino County deputies served a series of search warrants in Los Angeles County last week.
On Thursday, a group of local law enforcement agencies that included deputies from the Victor Valley Detective Bureau, BNSF Railroad Police, Homeland Security and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department served seven search warrants as part of an ongoing investigation into train burglaries in the Victor Valley area, according to a news release from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Authorities served the first search warrant at 6 a.m. in the 4900 block of Mason Street in the Southgate area, where they said that investigators were following up on information they gathered during previous investigations, according to the release.
“During the investigation, investigators located a large locked prefabricated room within a body shop, the room contained a large amount of stolen BNSF property,” the release said.
Two additional search warrants were then served at a home across the street, where three suspects were arrested. They were identified as 46-year-old Jorge Castillo, 41-year-old Cesar Martinez and 34-year-old Alfredo Santos Reyes, all of Southgate.
During those two warrants, authorities gathered evidence to serve three more search warrants at a home in Paramount. They found more stolen BNSF property.
“Evidence from the search warrant led investigators to a nearby storage facility,” the release said. “Two additional search warrants were authored for two storage units where additional BNSF stolen property was located.”
The last search warrant, which was authorized based on information from the previous search warrants, led to the discovery of even more stolen property.
BNSF officials estimated that the recovered property totaled $2,118,459.20. The property would be returned to its rightful owners, deputies said.
Recently, more than two dozen people were arrested in a series of different search warrants in October, which were also connected to train cargo thefts in the Victor Valley area.
Anyone who knows more about the investigation is urged to contact SBSD’s Rural Crimes Task Force at (760) 248-7328.
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