San Bernardino terrorist's childhood friend built pipe bombs with him and was heard talking about ‘sleeper cells’ ready to attack the U.S. 

The former neighbor of San Bernardino gunman Syed Rizwan Farook reportedly often spoke about terrorism with regulars at a Riverside, California, bar he used to work at.

Regulars said that after a few drinks, Enrique Marquez - who hauled ice, cleaned bathrooms and checked IDs at Morgan’s Tavern - would talk about ‘sleeper cells just waiting’ to attack the United States, but no one took him seriously.

Marquez also revealed this week that he and Farook would build pipe bombs as a hobby, and that if he had built the ones that failed to go off during the December 2 shooting that killed 14, the bombs would have gone off, officials said.

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The former neighbor of San Bernardino gunman Syed Rizwan Farook, Enrique Marquez, told regulars at Morgan's Tavern in Riverside, California, where he worked at a time, that there were ‘sleeper cells just waiting’ to attack the United States, but none of the customers took him seriously

Marquez, 24, told customers to watch for an attack because it was 'going to be big'. He also revealed this week that he and Farook would build pipe bombs as a hobby, officials said

Marquez claimed, however, that he didn't build the pipe bombs found in Farook's home (pictured) or at the Inland Regional Center were 14 people were killed by Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, on December 2

‘He would say stuff like: “There’s so much going on. There’s so many sleeper cells, so many people just waiting. When it happens, it’s going to be big. Watch”,’ Nick Rodriguez, a frequent customer at Morgan's Tavern who had known Marquez for the past two years told the New York Times.

‘We took it as a joke. When you look at the kid and talk to him, no one would take him seriously about that,’ Rodriguez said, adding that Marquez would also speak about wanting to lose weight and join the Navy.

Investigators say 24-year-old Marquez, who was related through marriage to Farook, may have planned a previous attack with the US-born terrorist in 2012 in Los Angeles, but the two ended up shelving the plot after the arrests of four men in Riverside, California, among them a jihadi recruiter.

Marquez, who was also a childhood friend of Farook, told federal authorities that he and Farook previously built pipe bombs together, according to CNN.

But he said he had nothing to do with the devices found at the home of Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, who killed 14 people in a shooting spree at a holiday party in San Bernardino, California.

On the day of the shooting, Marquez called his mother saying he was safe but wouldn’t be coming home, neighbor Lorena Aguirre said. 

While Farook and Malik are believed to have bought the handguns they used during their massacre themselves, Marquez is believed to have legally bought the larger assault-style rifles

Marquez told officials that if he had built the pipe bombs that failed to detonate in the December 2 attack, they would have gone off

Marquez reportedly told the FBI that he and Farook, seen here with Tashfeen Malik passing through US customs in July 2014, were planning an attack together in 2012

He also said that he had nothing to do with the bombs that lined the Inland Regional Center where the party was commencing on December 2.

He told the FBI that he and Farook experimented with building the devices and portrayed them at hobbyists.

After Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in a shooting spree in San Bernardino, California, on December 2, Marquez checked himself into a mental institution.

He is a person of interest in the shootings because he had legally purchased the two rifles that Farook and Malik used to carry out the shooting.

A federal official told the Los Angeles Times Thursday that investigators believed Farook asked his friend and relative Marquez to buy the two AR-15s because he was worried that he ‘wouldn't pass a background check’ if he tried to buy them himself.

Marquez began voluntarily speaking to federal authorities after they raided his mother’s house over the weekend, but has yet to be charged with a crime. 

Marquez reportedly revealed the botched 2012 plot to federal authorities over the weekend. He and Farook were friends for years and became family last year, with a sister-in-law in common. 

The FBI raided the home of Marquez's mother, Armida Chacon, over the weekend in search of possible evidence. Since then, Marquez has voluntarily spoken to the FBI

A sign stands in front of a mailbox at Enrique Marquez's home Wednesday in Riverside, California, reading 'Please keep off the property thank you'

Farook and Marquez were listed as witnesses on the marriage license when Farook's brother, Raheel, wed a Russian woman in 2011.

Three years later, Raheel Farook and his wife, Tatiana, were witnesses to Marquez's marriage to her sister, Mariya Chernykh, according to Riverside County records.

Marquez had a security guard license in California, but it expired last year. He was working at a local Wal-Mart since May, but has since been fired.

This week a search has been underway for a computer hard drive and anything else linked to Farook and Malik. 

The search hit its third day on Saturday as specialized divers with the FBI looked through a San Bernardino lake for abandoned evidence.

Investigators have said the killers tried to cover their tracks by destroying emails, cellphones and other items at their home in Redlands. 

They were tipped that the small lake in a park about three miles from the terror attack might hold the hard drive, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation but not authorized to speak publicly about the case. 

The search began Thursday after authorities learned the shooters may have been in the area the day of the attack, said David Bowdich, chief of the FBI's Los Angeles office. He said the search could last several days.

A search for a computer hard drive linked to Farook and Malik hit third day on Saturday as specialized divers with the FBI looked through a San Bernardino lake for abandoned evidence

Federal authorities were tipped that the small lake in a park about three miles from the terror attack might hold the hard drive