The use of tunnels will likely continue in the future, “especially with the increased border patrols and the surveillance that is taking place along the border”, Mike Vigil, author of “Deal” and the former head of global operations at the Drug Enforcement Administration, told Business Insider.
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The discovery comes six months after investigators ferreted out a well-appointed tunnel stretching almost a half-mile underneath the global line between warehouses in the same two border communities.
The elevator, which was big enough for eight to 10 people, was located in the closet of a Tijuana house whose floors were strewn with mattresses, Duffy said.
In April this year, a USA border agent came across another tunnel constructed between Mexicali and Calexico when the ground collapsed near the All-American Canal.
The subterranean passageway connects a run-down home in Baja, California to a fenced-off lot filled with wooden pallets in the far southern reaches of San Diego, according to KSWB. “They sold very cheap”.
Authorities began watching the San Diego lot last fall after heavy traffic was recorded in the area. The prosecutor said she was “fairly confident” that the first drug load was sent earlier this month but didn’t rule out the possibility that some got through undetected. Officials seized more than 1,350 pounds of marijuana smuggled through the tunnel. An investigation netted more than a ton of marijuana and resulted in multiple arrests.
The discovery demonstrates the enduring appeal of tunnels to smugglers, despite the significant time and money required to build one.
Officials found the 142-foot tunnel during a routine patrol of the border in the city of Otay Mesa, Ca. Many are found incomplete.
US authorities did specify what the tunnel’s objective was, and it was not clear whether it was completed, though “Anything or anyone could potentially cross into the USA via a tunnel”, the US Customs and Border Protection agency said in a statement.
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The tunnel extends 300 yards from a house in Tijuana, Mexico, to the border and then 500 yards on the USA side to a fenced lot in a San Diego industrial area. Six people were arrested.
