Sophisticated Drug Tunnel With Rail System Found on US-Mexico Border

A sophisticated tunnel connecting San Diego, Calif. and Tijuana, Mexico built for smuggling drugs across the border has been discovered. It is the latest find by investigators, who have discovered a number of secret passages in recent years that are used for drug smuggling.

Three suspected drug runners for a Mexican organized crime cartel were arrested Thursday in connection with the tunnel, according to CBS News. About $12 million worth of marijuana and cocaine were also seized, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

It was the first time cocaine was recovered that was connected to a drug tunnel in the San Diego area. About 325 pounds of cocaine was seized, along with 17,292 pounds of marijuana. The recently completed tunnel was equipped with an electric rail system, lighting and ventilation.  

John Sandweg, acting director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said, "Once again, we've succeeded in taking down a smuggling tunnel before it was fully operational. This action is another huge setback for the Mexican cartels, which invest vast amounts of time and money to build them. These criminal organizations should not mistakenly believe tunnels will be their ticket to success."

U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy echoed his sentiments. "The cartels have spent years and tens of millions of dollars trying in vain to create an underworld of secret passageways to move huge quantities of drugs at will," Duffy said. "We have a message for the builders, financiers and operators of these sophisticated tunnels: if you continue to go underground, you will find your world collapsing around you."

The tunnel, which was located in San Diego's Otay Mesa area, was shut down Wednesday night before any drugs could pass through undetected. Federal agents were tipped off to its existence by an informant. 

Seizures linked to the recently discovered tunnel include 3 tons of marijuana in a truck that was stopped by Chula Vista police Saturday for a traffic violation, and five and a half tons of marijuana inside the tunnel, a nearby warehouse and a truck. Cocaine was found in six suitcases inside a van that was leaving the warehouse on Wednesday.  

As the U.S. increases border security, Mexican drug cartels are now turning to light aircraft, small fishing boats and tunnels to smuggle drugs across the border. More than 75 underground border passages have been discovered since 2008. The tunnels, which are concentrated along the border in California and Arizona, are mostly used to smuggle marijuana. 

San Diego is popular for tunnel-building because it has soft soil that is easy to dig. The Otay Mesa area also has many nondescript warehouses to conceal trucks loaded with drugs. The tunnel is the eighth major passage discovered in San Diego since 2006. 

The most recent passage found was about 35 feet underground, 4 feet high and 3 feet wide, said Derek Benner, the head of U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego. 

Tunnels were found in November in 2010 and 2011. A tunnel found in November 2011 was 600 yards, and resulted in the seizures of 32 tons of marijuana on both sides of the border, with 26 tons on the U.S. side, making it one of the largest marijuana busts in U.S. history.