Big cross-border tunnel found linking Tijuana, San Diego

SAN DIEGO (AP) — U.S. authorities on Monday announced the discovery of a major drug smuggling tunnel — running in regards to the size of a six soccer fields — from Mexico to a warehouse in an industrial space in the U.S.

The key passage from Tijuana to San Diego featured rail and ventilation systems, electrical energy and bolstered partitions, authorities stated. It was discovered near San Diego’s Otay Mesa border crossing in an space the place greater than a dozen different subtle tunnels have been discovered within the last twenty years.

U.S. authorities said it was unknown how lengthy the tunnel had been operating and what quantity of medication, if any, got via undetected. They seized 1,762 kilos (799 kg) of cocaine, 165 pounds (75 kg) of meth and three.5 kilos (1.6 kg) of heroin in connection with the investigation.

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

The tunnel is in one of the vital fortified stretches of the border, illustrating the restrictions of border partitions. Whereas thought-about efficient against small, crudely built tunnels referred to as “gopher holes,” partitions are no match for extra sophisticated passages that run deeper underground.

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

The kind of medication seized might sign a shift from the multi-ton loads of marijuana that were usually found in discoveries earlier than California legalized pot for recreational use in 2019.

Onerous medicine, equivalent to heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl, are sometimes smuggled by official border crossings from Mexico because their small size and lack of odor make them difficult to detect. But tunnels give smugglers a bonus of being able to carry huge loads at lightning pace.

The tunnel exited america in a nondescript warehouse named “Amistad Park” on a avenue that is busy with massive semitrailers during the day but quiet at night time. 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 began making visitors stops of autos that had been there or at a warehouse close to the border, turning up packing containers full of cocaine, in keeping with a federal prison grievance filed in San Diego.

They raided the properties — finding no other medication at the warehouse, however a tunnel opening carved into the cement ground, federal prosecutors stated.

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

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

The cross-border passages date back to the early Nineteen Nineties 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 related to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.

Authorities declined to link the most recent tunnel to any specific cartel. They claimed victory despite not knowing how lengthy it had been working.

“There is no extra light on the finish of this narco-tunnel,” stated Randy Grossman, U.S. legal professional for the Southern District of California. “We'll take down each subterranean smuggling route we find to keep illicit medicine from reaching our streets and destroying our households and communities.”

By federal regulation, U.S. authorities must fill the U.S. aspect of tunnels with concrete after they're discovered.

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Associated Press writer Eugene Johnson in Seattle contributed.