Big cross-border tunnel found linking Tijuana, San Diego

SAN DIEGO (AP) — U.S. authorities on Monday introduced the discovery of a serious drug smuggling tunnel — running about the length of a six football fields — from Mexico to a warehouse in an industrial area in the U.S.

The key passage from Tijuana to San Diego featured rail and air flow programs, electricity and strengthened walls, authorities stated. It was discovered near San Diego’s Otay Mesa border crossing in an area the place more than a dozen other subtle tunnels have been found in the last two decades.

U.S. authorities said it was unknown how lengthy the tunnel had been working and what amount of medicine, if any, bought by way of undetected. They seized 1,762 pounds (799 kg) of cocaine, 165 kilos (75 kg) of meth and 3.5 pounds (1.6 kg) of heroin in connection with the investigation.

Six individuals, ages 31 to 55, were 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 limitations of border walls. While considered effective towards small, crudely constructed tunnels known as “gopher holes,” walls are not any match for more sophisticated passages that run deeper underground.

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

The type of drugs seized could sign a shift from the multi-ton loads of marijuana that had been usually present in discoveries before California legalized pot for leisure use in 2019.

Arduous medication, such as heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl, are sometimes smuggled by official border crossings from Mexico because their small dimension and lack of odor make them troublesome to detect. However tunnels give smugglers an advantage of having the ability to carry large masses at lightning pace.

The tunnel exited the United States in a nondescript warehouse named “Amistad Park” on a avenue that is busy with giant semitrailers throughout the day however quiet at evening. On Monday, armed guards watched over a small shaft with a ladder that descended into the tunnel.

After staking out a home that was lately used to stash medicine, officers started making site visitors stops of autos that had been there or at a warehouse close to the border, turning up packing containers stuffed with cocaine, in line with a federal legal grievance filed in San Diego.

They raided the properties — discovering no different medication at the warehouse, but a tunnel opening carved into the cement flooring, federal prosecutors said.

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

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

The cross-border passages date back 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 are usually found in California and Arizona and associated with Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.

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

“There is no extra mild at the finish of this narco-tunnel,” stated Randy Grossman, U.S. legal professional for the Southern District of California. “We will take down every subterranean smuggling route we find to maintain illicit medication 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're discovered.

___=

Related Press author Eugene Johnson in Seattle contributed.