Massive Drug Smuggling Tunnel Discovered Going from Mexico to San Diego
Jose Nino
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ABC News reported that authorities discovered what they described as the “the longest illicit cross-border tunnel” from Mexico to San Diego.
The tunnel begins in Tijuana, Mexico and was located in an industrial area a half-mile from the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. According to a press release from last week from the U.S. Border Patrol San Diego sector and its affiliates, a small industrial building concealed the tunnel.
During a news conference last Wednesday, Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Aaron M. Heitke said that the initial discovery was made on the American side due to “intelligence gathering and technologies.” He did not go into the specifics of the technologies that had been used.
“With the help of Mexico, we were able to exact a location of the tunnel itself,” he said.
The tunnel running along the Southwest border “travels north into the U.S. bending slightly west and extending an astonishing 4,068 ft. from the border, with a total length of 4,309 feet,” the news release stated.
The tunnel was 5.5 feet tall and 2 feet wide and “includes an extensive rail and cart system, forced air ventilation, high voltage electrical cables and panels, an elevator at the tunnel entrance and a complex drainage system,” the news release continued.
“They could’ve smuggled any … contraband they wanted to,” Heitke said. “They’ll try anything they can to get their illicit products into the United States.”
Border Patrol claimed that an offshoot of the tunnel had been discovered at roughly 3,529 feet into the U.S.
“This offshoot traveled several feet then came to an end without breaching the surface. The main tunnel extended another city block at which point agents discovered several hundred sandbags blocking the suspected former exit of the tunnel in the Otay Mesa warehouse district within the U.S.,” Border Patrol detailed in its release.
Border Patrol announced that no arrests or seizures had been made after the tunnel was discovered.
“The sophistication and length of this particular tunnel demonstrates the time-consuming efforts transnational criminal organizations will undertake to facilitate cross-border smuggling,” commented Cardell T. Morant, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations San Diego, in the press release.
According to authorities, the second-longest tunnel in the U.S., was located in San Diego in 2014. This tunnel was slightly less than 3,000 feet long.
“As efforts to strengthen security on our Southern border increase, Mexican drug cartels are forced underground to smuggle their deadly drugs into the United States,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge John W. Callery. “The sophistication of this tunnel demonstrates the determination and monetary resources of the cartels.”
A tunnel likes this reveals the sophistication of Mexican drug cartel operations.
Through these tunnels, they will take advantage of smuggling weapons, drugs, and even humans across the American border.
This is why Trump should continue campaigning strong for tighter border security and full funding for the border wall.
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