Border Patrol agents in California say a cross-border tunnel that stretched thousands of feet from Tijuana, Mexico, into the United States is the longest one ever found on the southern border and was likely used to smuggle drugs into the country.
U.S. officials on Wednesday announced the discovery of more than a mile-and-a-half of underground hallways that secretly connected both countries. The entrance on the Mexican side to the tunnel originated in an industrial area, close to the Otay Mesa Port of Entry border crossing, which is south of San Diego, California. It stretched three-quarters of a mile, or 4,309 feet, to the United States, and the U.S. entrance was concealed near the set of warehouses near that same large border crossing checkpoint. It had an additional 3,529-foot tunnel offshoot that also went under the border and into the U.S. but did not have an opening on the U.S. side.
The longest tunnel on record until now was discovered in San Diego in 2014 and was just under 3,000 feet long.
Aaron Heitke, deputy chief of Border Patrol’s San Diego region, said in a statement that the “high level narco-tunnel” would have been used by transnational criminal organizations to move narcotics from Mexico into the U.S., though no one has been arrested in connection with what was a massive undertaking to build.
Mexican law enforcement originally found the tunnel last August and informed U.S. border officials, who then began mapping the tunnel, which is dangerous due to the potential for collapse while inside. Underground hallways such as this one are extremely narrow and can take years to build.
The tunnel is, on average, 70 feet below the ground and just more than 5 feet tall by 2 feet wide. Border officials found an elevator, a rail system, air ventilation, a high-voltage electrical system, and a drainage system.
“While subterranean tunnels are not a new occurrence along the California-Mexico border, the sophistication and length of this particular tunnel demonstrates the time-consuming efforts transnational criminal organizations will undertake to facilitate cross-border smuggling,” said Cardell Morant, acting special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations San Diego.
A Drug Enforcement Administration official said he believed Mexican cartels were pursuing this route of smuggling below the ground because it has become tougher to smuggle through ports of entry or in unfenced areas along the border.
“The sophistication of this tunnel demonstrates the determination and monetary resources of the cartels,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge John Callery. “And although the cartels will continue to use their resources to try and breach our border, the DEA and our partners on the Tunnel Task Force will continue to use our resources to ensure they fail, that our border is secure, and that tunnels like this are shut down to stem the flow of deadly drugs entering the United States.”
In 2017, U.S. officials arrested two dozen Chinese citizens attempting to illegally enter the country from Mexico by way of a tunnel close to where the new one was found.
