U.S. Border Patrol agents in San Diego uncovered a narcotics smuggling tunnel over 2,000 feet in length connecting Tijuana and San Diego, equipped with lighting, ventilation and a track system used to transport drugs.
Agents assigned to the San Diego Sector Tunnel Team discovered the uncompleted tunnel in April, according to a statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The tunnel was actively under construction at the time of the discovery.
Border Patrol worked with Homeland Security Investigations and authorities with the Mexican government to locate the tunnel’s origin point, finding the entrance at a residence in the Nueva Tijuana neighborhood. After Mexican authorities obtained a search warrant, they found that the entrance was hidden underneath freshly laid tile.
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The tunnel ran from the Tijuana residence and into a commercial warehouse in Otay Mesa. The tunnel also ran under a portion of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in San Diego, authorities say. Agents mapped out the tunnel, which extended more than 1,000 feet inside the U.S., measuring 2,918 feet in total length.
The agents also discovered the tunnel was outfitted with electrical wiring, lighting, ventilation systems, and a track system the agents suspect was likely used to transport large quantities of drugs.
When the agents first entered the tunnel, they encountered multiple makeshift barricades placed haphazardly by the tunnel workers. Investigators believe the tunnel workers intended for the makeshift barricades to slow them down and make it harder to identify the tunnel’s origin.
To prevent foreign terrorist organizations from using the tunnel, CBP said contractors will pour thousands of gallons of concrete into the tunnel.
“As we continue to strengthen the nation’s air and maritime border security, it’s not surprising that foreign terrorist organizations would resort to underground routes,” Jeffrey D. Stalnaker, acting chief patrol agent of the San Diego Sector, said in a statement Wednesday.
“Disruption of narcotics smuggling tunnels is critical to protecting American lives. I’m grateful for the exceptional work of the Tunnel Team agents who placed themselves in danger, as well as the cooperation of our Mexican law enforcement partners,” Stalnaker continued.
This is not the first tunnel found in the San Diego area. According to the CBP, over 95 tunnels have been found and decommissioned in the San Diego area since 1993.
Art Del Cueto, vice president of the U.S. Border Patrol Council, states that Mexican drug cartels are typically behind tunnels like the one discovered by the San Diego Sector Tunnel Team.
“Many times, they’ve been utilizing that tunnel already,” Cueto told NewsNation. “They’ve just been doing upgrades to it. So, there’s no way to tell whether some of these tunnels, no matter when you detect them and how far along they are or are completed, or what else they want to put into these structures, how much they’ve already used them, even though in people’s eyes it’s not fully completed.”
Dismantling the criminal network requires cooperation from U.S. and Mexican agencies if authorities are to determine which drug cartels are involved and how many cartel members are involved, Cueto explained.
Mexican authorities and U.S. authorities have worked together in the past to take down cartel-linked human smuggling operations.
In February, authorities in Mexico executed arrest warrants against Brian Alan Torres Gonzalez and Soledad Morales Nava, a pair of alleged human smugglers, as part of an operation to dismantle a prolific transnational alien smuggling organization. The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed in a statement at the time that U.S. authorities provided evidence for the prosecution of the smugglers in Mexico.
The illegal smuggling organization, based in Juarez, Mexico, is believed to have kidnapped migrants to extort money from their families, demanding payment before fulfilling the promise to smuggle illegal immigrants into the U.S. In addition, the organization reportedly employed current and former members of various Mexico-based cartels.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
