Large cross-border tunnel discovered linking Tijuana, San Diego

SAN DIEGO (AP) — U.S. authorities on Monday announced the discovery of a serious drug smuggling tunnel — operating concerning the size of a six football fields — from Mexico to a warehouse in an industrial area in the U.S.

The secret passage from Tijuana to San Diego featured rail and ventilation programs, electrical energy and strengthened walls, authorities said. It was found near San Diego’s Otay Mesa border crossing in an area the place greater than a dozen different subtle tunnels have been found within the final two decades.

U.S. authorities stated it was unknown how long the tunnel had been operating and what quantity of medication, if any, got by way of undetected. They seized 1,762 pounds (799 kg) of cocaine, 165 pounds (75 kg) of meth and 3.5 kilos (1.6 kg) of heroin in reference to the investigation.

Six folks, ages 31 to 55, have been charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine. All are Southern California residents.

The tunnel is in probably the most fortified stretches of the border, illustrating the restrictions of border walls. Whereas thought of effective in opposition to small, crudely constructed tunnels known as “gopher holes,” walls aren't any match for extra sophisticated passages that run deeper underground.

The newest passage, found Friday, ran one-third of a mile (532 m) to Tijuana. It was 4 toes (1.2 m) in diameter and about six tales deep.

The kind of medication seized may signal a shift from the multi-ton loads of marijuana that had been often present in discoveries earlier than California legalized pot for leisure use in 2019.

Hard medication, similar to heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl, are sometimes smuggled by way of official border crossings from Mexico because their small measurement and lack of odor make them difficult to detect. However tunnels give smugglers a bonus of having the ability to carry enormous hundreds at lightning pace.

The tunnel exited the USA in a nondescript warehouse named “Amistad Park” on a street that is busy with massive semitrailers in the course of the day but quiet at evening. On Monday, armed guards watched over a small shaft with a ladder that descended into the tunnel.

After staking out a house that was not too long ago used to stash medicine, officers began making site visitors stops of automobiles that had been there or at a warehouse close to the border, turning up packing containers full of cocaine, in keeping with a federal felony complaint filed in San Diego.

They raided the properties — discovering no different medication on the warehouse, however a tunnel opening carved into the cement flooring, federal prosecutors mentioned.

Authorities have discovered about 15 refined tunnels on California’s border with Mexico since 2006.

Many tunnels, including the one introduced Monday, are in San Diego’s Otay Mesa industrial area, the place clay-like soil is conducive to digging and warehouses present cover.

The cross-border passages date again to the early 1990s and have been used primarily to smuggle multi-ton a great deal of marijuana. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration stated in 2020 that they're typically found in California and Arizona and associated with Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.

Authorities declined to hyperlink the latest tunnel to any specific cartel. They claimed victory regardless of not understanding how long it had been operating.

“There is no extra light on the finish of this narco-tunnel,” stated Randy Grossman, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California. “We are going to take down every subterranean smuggling route we discover to keep illicit drugs from reaching our streets and destroying our families and communities.”

By federal regulation, U.S. authorities must fill the U.S. aspect of tunnels with concrete after they are found.

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Related Press author Eugene Johnson in Seattle contributed.