A drug-smuggling tunnel was found by U.S authorities running from Tijuana, Mexico to a warehouse in San Deigo. The tunnel measures a length of six football fields.
Per Complex, the entrance was discovered by San Diego’s Otay Mesa border crossing and featured rail and ventilation systems, electricity, and reinforced walls. CBS News reports that during a Monday (May 16) announcement, it was revealed that 1,762 pounds of cocaine, 165 pounds of meth, and 3.5 pounds of heroin were seized during the investigation. It’s also unknown how long the tunnel was operating. So far, six Southern California residents have been arrested in connection with the tunnel; they’ve been charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine.
The tunnel is measured at four feet in diameter, six stories deep, and runs for one-third of a mile. This gives smugglers an advantage in moving larger loads of drugs. There have been 15 tunnels discovered on California’s border with Mexico since 2006. Once discovered, the U.S side of the tunnels is filled with concrete.
“There is no more light at the end of this narco-tunnel,” Randy Grossman, U.S Attorney for the Southern District of California said. “We will take down every subterranean smuggling route we find to keep illicit drugs from reaching our streets and destroying our families and communities.”
California has continued to struggle with smuggling. Back in February, a California man was caught attempting to smuggle reptiles from Mexico into the U.S. At the time, the man alleged that the reptiles “were his pets” after being caught with approximately 60 reptiles.