Second Drugs Tunnel in As Many Months Discovered on US/Mexico Border

Illegal drugs worth an estimated $29.6 million have been discovered in a tunnel that criminals have been using to smuggle drugs from Mexico into America.

The tunnel, located near San Diego, has lighting, ventilation and even an underground rail system, making the cross-border passageway one of the most sophisticated ever discovered by federal agents.

It is believed the tunnel’s entrance is close to the border wall in Otay Mesa, visited by President Donald Trump in September last year.

The San Diego Tunnel Task Force confirmed that the discovery included 3,000 pounds of marijuana, 1,300 pounds of cocaine, 17 pounds of heroin, over two pounds of fentanyl and 86 pounds of methamphetamine.

Made up of agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the task force first discovered the tunnel – running 2,000 feet – on 19 March.

D.E.A. special agent John W. Callery confirmed the discovery in a statement saying:

“These tunnels show the determination of drug trafficking organizations to subvert our border controls and smuggle deadly drugs into our community.”

Although no-one was arrested at the scene, authorities have claimed the discovery was part of an on-going investigation and confirmed that due to the sum of drugs involved the seizure was one of the biggest found in a single tunnel.

However the problem of illegal drug smuggling does not seem to be improving. The latest find comes only two months after another tunnel – measuring 4,309 feet – was also discovered in the area. Again, nobody was arrested at the scene. That tunnel was believed to be the longest tunnel ever discovered under the US/Mexico border, although no drugs were in the tunnel at the time of the discovery.

Chief Border Patrol agent Aaron M. Heitke confirmed the discovery saying, “Cross-border tunnels represent one of the most significant threats to our national security. Criminal organizations can use these tunnels to introduce anything they want into the U.S. This is especially concerning during a global pandemic.”

It is believed these tunnels are also used for people smuggling although this has not been confirmed as yet.

These tunnels are not the first to be discovered. Although 70 tunnels have been discovered since 1993, authorities have discovered 16 similar tunnels – each with railway tracks, lighting, ventilation and hydraulic lifts – since 2006. Every tunnel was discovered in the Otay Mesa area and it is believed that the area was chosen due to the soil that is clay-like and perfect for digging tunnels. It is also believed the number of warehouses in the area are the ideal cover to stop authorities investigating large numbers of people in the area.

The latest tunnel had an average depth of 31 feet, and was only found after intelligence found that there was a transnational criminal organization running a drug smuggling operation. Although the organization was not named it is believed the tunnel had been in use for many months.

Robert S. Brewer Jr. is the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California and released a statement confirming that “if cartels keep spending millions of dollars building tunnels, we will keep finding and filling them”. Under federal law, American authorities are required to fill in the US side of the tunnels with concrete.

It has been made public that the tunnel was found close to a double-layered wall system, which had been put in place in March 2018 and had been scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2020. It is still not confirmed as yet whether the tunnel was constructed before or after the new section of the border wall was put in place.

It has been well publicized that President Trump wanted a border built between America and Mexico, with the issue being a mainstay of his presidential campaign in 2016. However many have slammed the idea of the wall, insisting that it is an “ineffective” way to increase security at the border. The discovery of two tunnels in as many months’ highlights these claims.

Trump’s visit to the area in September was supposed to be one of success, of promoting the build of the wall, with boasts that the steel slats in the new border would make it the most impassable border throughout the world.

At the time, Trump met with construction workers and Border Patrol agents and announced “the wall has a ways to go, but we’re building it at breakneck speed. When this is completed, there won’t be a border anywhere like this.”

The wall is not just over ground but continues underground too, although only for several feet. This is to reduce the amount of small tunnels – more commonly known as ‘gopher holes’ – that are constantly being discovered. However this latest tunnel, along with the one a few months ago, shows that the wall is not going deep enough, with both tunnels being dug at far deeper depths.