Big cross-border tunnel discovered linking Tijuana, San Diego

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

The secret passage from Tijuana to San Diego featured rail and ventilation techniques, electricity and reinforced partitions, authorities stated. It was discovered near San Diego’s Otay Mesa border crossing in an area the place greater than a dozen other sophisticated tunnels have been found in the final 20 years.

U.S. authorities said it was unknown how lengthy the tunnel had been operating and what amount of medicine, if any, got by way of undetected. They seized 1,762 pounds (799 kg) of cocaine, 165 pounds (75 kg) of meth and three.5 kilos (1.6 kg) of heroin in reference to the investigation.

Six people, 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 limitations of border partitions. While thought of effective against small, crudely built tunnels known as “gopher holes,” walls are no match for extra refined passages that run deeper underground.

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

The kind of medication seized may sign a shift from the multi-ton loads of marijuana that had been typically present in discoveries before California legalized pot for recreational use in 2019.

Onerous medicine, reminiscent of heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl, are sometimes smuggled by means of official border crossings from Mexico because their small dimension and lack of odor make them tough to detect. But tunnels give smugglers an advantage of being able to carry enormous loads at lightning pace.

The tunnel exited the United States in a nondescript warehouse named “Amistad Park” on a avenue that is busy with large semitrailers during 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 drugs, officials started making traffic stops of automobiles that had been there or at a warehouse close to the border, turning up bins full of cocaine, in line with a federal prison grievance filed in San Diego.

They raided the properties — discovering no other drugs at the warehouse, however a tunnel opening carved into the cement flooring, federal prosecutors stated.

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

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

The cross-border passages date back to the early 1990s and have been used primarily to smuggle multi-ton loads of marijuana. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said in 2020 that they're usually present in California and Arizona and associated with Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.

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

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

By federal regulation, U.S. authorities should fill the U.S. facet of tunnels with concrete after they are discovered.

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Associated Press author Eugene Johnson in Seattle contributed.