US authorities have uncovered what they believe
to be the longest ever cross-border drug
trafficking tunnel connecting Mexico and
California, a statement said.
Estimated to span more than 800 yards (730
meters), it contains an
elevator, as well as lights
and rail and ventilation systems, the US
Attorney's Office for the Southern District of
California said Wednesday.
The narrow tunnel connects a house in Tijuana,
Mexico, to a commercial lot in Otay Mesa,
California, where the exit is a three-foot (0.9
meter) diameter hole that, at one point, was
hidden from view by a dumpster, it said in a
statement.
Inside the tunnel, federal agents found 68 bales
of marijuana weighing 1,638 pounds (743
kilograms), with another 1,430 pounds hidden in
the dumpster.
Overall, authorities seized more than 14,000
pounds of marijuana and 2,242 pounds of
cocaine during the probe, which resulted in six
arrests in San Diego on Friday.
"On the surface, few would ever suspect that
traffickers were moving multi-ton quantities of
cocaine and marijuana worth tens of millions of
dollars in such an unassuming way, through this
rabbit hole in the ground, in full view of the world
around it," US Attorney Laura Duffy said.
The statement from the US Attorney's Office
compared the tunnel's estimated length to that
of more than eight American football fields,
adding that "federal officials have seized what
they believe to be the longest cross-border
tunnel ever discovered along the California-
Mexico border."
Six months ago, authorities from both countries
dismantled another drug-trafficking tunnel in the
same border area.
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