Drug Smuggling Super Tunnel Found

Daily News Article   —   Posted on November 5, 2013

Border control and drug enforcement agents seized more than 17,000 pounds of marijuana and 325 pounds of cocaine from the tunnel, a rented warehouse where the passageway ended on the U.S. side and arrested three men in a night raid on Wednesday.

The bust marked the first time cocaine has been found in connection with more than 75 cross-border smuggling tunnels that have been uncovered since 2008 along the Southwest border between the United States and Mexico, officials said.

Tunnels discovered earlier were used mainly for marijuana, which because of its bulk is harder to smuggle inside cars and trucks, said William Sherman, Drug Enforcement Administration special agent in charge in San Diego.

The tunnel, which was shut down on Wednesday, was built with one access point in a warehouse in the Otay Mesa industrial park of San Diego and another in Tijuana, Mexico, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“They’ve worked very hard over a year, maybe two years to build a tunnel of this sophistication. It’s taken hundreds of thousands of man hours and millions of dollars to complete,”  Mr. Sherman of the DEA said.

U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy described the latest passageway as a “super tunnel,” saying it was equipped with an electronic rail system, hydraulically-controlled steel doors and a ventilation system. She described the tunnel as sophisticated and said it was probably built by engineers and architects.

The Sinaloa drug cartel is believed to have built and operated the tunnel, which ran 1,760 feet from Mexico to the United States. The tunnel is the eighth major passage discovered in San Diego since 2006, a period during which Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel has solidified its hold on the prized smuggling corridor.

Federal agents had the San Diego warehouse under surveillance after being tipped off by an informant who told them operators brought in drills and other construction equipment in August and September.

“This complex underground passageway zig-zags for about a third of a mile under the border at a depth of approximately 35ft on average,” said Derek Benner of US Immigration and Customs.

U.S. prosecutors filed charges of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana against the three men arrested in connection with the tunnel. If convicted, each faces a mandatory sentence of 10 years to life in prison.

In November 2011, authorities found a 1,800 ft tunnel that resulted in seizures of 32 tons of marijuana on both sides of the border, with 26 tons found on the US side – one of the largest seizures in US history.

Compiled from articles published on Nov.1 UK Reuters and Britain’s Sky News. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from Reuters and Sky News.