Thread: 14 tons of marijuana seized after cross-border tunnel is dis

More than 14 tons of marijuana seized after cross-border tunnel is discovered

November 16, 2011 | 1:10pm

U.S. and Mexican authorities on Wednesday announced the seizure of more than 14 tons of marijuana and the discovery of a large cross-border tunnel linking a warehouse in San Diego to Tijuana.

The drug seizure was part of the multi-agency investigation that was coordinated with the Mexican military, authorities said.

The discovery of the tunnel demonstrates the continuing efforts of Mexican organized crime groups to circumvent bolstered border defenses by constructing sophisticated subterranean passageways that can handle enormous drug shipments.

Dozens of tunnels have been discovered in recent years, most of them in the same light industrial area of San Diego’s Otay Mesa neighborhood, where this most recent passageway was discovered on Tuesday.

The tunnel was linked to an industrial building near the Tijuana airport, where Mexican soldiers Wednesday morning stood guard over of about three tons of neatly stacked marijuana bundles. Dozens of the packages were labeled with pictures of Capt. America, the symbol used by a major operator of the Sinaloa drug cartel in Tijuana, said Mexican Gen. Gilberto Landeros Briseno, in an interview with the Mexican media.

The Sinaloa drug cartel, Mexico’s most powerful organized crime group, has a long history of constructing tunnels to funnel drugs into the U.S. Authorities in the U.S. said they will provide more details at an afternoon news conference in San Diego.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... vered.html

Major cross-border drug tunnel discovered south of San Diego

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sent this bulletin at
11/16/2011 05:33 PM EST

SAN DIEGO — Investigators on the multi-agency San Diego Tunnel Task Force continued sifting through evidence Wednesday at a warehouse in Otay Mesa's industrial park housing the U.S. entrance to a sophisticated passageway that runs beneath the border to a warehouse more than 400 yards away in Tijuana, Mexico.

Authorities confirmed the existence of the tunnel Tuesday evening after obtaining a federal warrant to search the warehouse located at 8851 Kerns Street, near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. Inside the nondescript white building, investigators discovered the entrance to the passageway. From the warehouse floor, the tunnel plunges more than 20 feet to the bottom of the shaft. The passageway, measuring approximately four feet by three feet, is equipped with structural supports, electricity and ventilation. Evidence found inside the warehouse leads investigators to believe the tunnel was only recently completed.

The Tunnel Task Force recently began conducting surveillance on the Otay Mesa warehouse after observing possible suspicious activity at the site. Tuesday afternoon, agents spotted a small cargo truck leaving the facility. Officers with the California Highway Patrol subsequently pulled the truck over on highway 125 near the warehouse. Inside the trailer, officers discovered approximately three tons of marijuana packed in boxes. The male driver and a male passenger were taken into custody at the scene and are facing federal drug charges.

Based upon the results of the vehicle stop, agents obtained a warrant to enter the warehouse, where they recovered approximately 6 1/2 additional tons of marijuana. Meanwhile, Task Force officers alerted authorities in Mexico, who made entry into the Tijuana warehouse, resulting in the seizure of another five to six tons of marijuana.

The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the San Diego Tunnel Task Force, made up of representatives from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. Formed in 2003, the Task Force uses a variety of techniques to detect cross-border tunnels, from state-of-the-art electronic surveillance to old fashioned detective work. That includes following up on tips, many of which come from the public.

"The discovery of this tunnel is a tribute not only to the effectiveness of our joint investigative efforts, but also to the significant benefits we're gaining by using new technology to target this kind of smuggling activity," said Derek Benner, special agent in charge for ICE Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego. "The drug cartels mistakenly believe they can elude detection by taking their contraband underground, but, again and again, we've been able to find these tunnels and shut them down."

"This significant cross-border drug seizure and tunnel discovery by the San Diego Tunnel Task Force is an excellent example of the effective collaboration among law enforcement agencies in San Diego," said Paul Beeson, chief patrol agent for the San Diego Border Patrol Sector. "A key component of that strategy is intelligence sharing between CBP and its law enforcement partners, including the government of Mexico. This undoubtedly fosters a safer and more secure border environment that advances our goal to dismantle and defeat the transnational criminal organizations that threaten the safety of our country."

"The fact that this is the third sophisticated cross border tunnel found within a year's time demonstrates the cartels will stop at nothing to smuggle their drugs into the United States," said William R. Sherman, acting special agent in charge for the DEA in San Diego. "The seizure of marijuana coupled with the loss of yet another tunnel will deal a heavy blow to those responsible for constructing this tunnel."

"Last night's operation again highlights the importance of collaborative efforts among our law enforcement partners along the southwest border," said Sara Simpson, senior special agent in charge for the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. "Our ability to pool resources and expertise to identify, investigate and dismantle sophisticated cross border tunnels sends a powerful message to criminal organizations involved in drug smuggling, human trafficking and other illegal activities."

In the last four years, federal authorities have detected more than 75 cross-border smuggling tunnels, most of them in California and Arizona. The passageway uncovered Tuesday is the sixth large-scale drug smuggling tunnel discovered in the San Diego since 2006. Last year, local investigators identified two highly sophisticated tunnels in the area, one on Election Day and one three weeks later on Thanksgiving.

http://content.govdelivery.com/bulletin ... ICE-1ce677

US authorities find major drug tunnel in San Diego

tri-cityherald.com
By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Published Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011

AN DIEGO An estimated 14 tons of marijuana were seized after the discovery of a cross-border tunnel that authorities said Wednesday was one of the most significant secret drug smuggling passages ever found on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The tunnel discovered Tuesday stretched about 400 yards and linked warehouses in San Diego and Tijuana, authorities said.

U.S. authorities seized an estimated nine to 10 tons of marijuana inside a truck and at the warehouse in San Diego's Otay Mesa area, said Derek Benner, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's special agent in charge of investigations in San Diego. Mexican authorities recovered about five tons south of the border.

Photos taken by Mexican authorities show an entry blocked by bundles that were likely stuffed with marijuana, Paul Beeson, chief of the Border Patrol's San Diego sector, told The Associated Press. Tunnel walls were lined with wood supports, and power cords led toward the Mexican entrance, suggesting lighting and ventilation systems.

The depth and width of the tunnel were unknown. Several arrests were made. Benner declined to elaborate in an interview.

Cross-border tunnels have proliferated in recent years, but the latest find is one of the more significant, based on the amount of drugs seized.

Raids last November on two tunnels linking San Diego and Tijuana netted a combined 50 tons of marijuana on both sides of the border, two of the largest pot busts in U.S. history. Those secret passages were lined with rail tracks, lighting and ventilation.

As U.S. authorities tighten their noose on land, tunnels have emerged as a major tack to smuggle marijuana. Smugglers also use single-engine wooden boats to ferry bales of marijuana up the Pacific Coast and pilot low-flying aircraft that look like motorized hang gliders to make lightning-quick drops across the border.

More than 70 tunnels have been found on the border since October 2008, surpassing the number of discoveries in the previous six years. Many are clustered around San Diego, California's Imperial Valley and Nogales, Ariz.

California is popular because its clay-like soil is easy to dig with shovels. In Nogales, smugglers tap into vast underground drainage canals.

San Diego's Otay Mesa area has the added draw that there are plenty of warehouses on both sides of the border to conceal trucks getting loaded with drugs. Its streets hum with semitrailers by day and fall silent on nights and weekends.

After last November's twin finds, U.S. authorities launched a campaign to alert Otay Mesa warehouse landlords to warning signs. Landlords were told to look for construction equipment, piles of dirt, sounds of jackhammers and the scent of unburned marijuana.

U.S. authorities linked the November finds to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, headed by that country's most-wanted drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Benner said the sophistication of the latest tunnel suggests that a major Mexican drug cartel was involved, but no link has been established.

"This is where the work, in earnest, begins," said Benner. "We need to find them and shut them down."

Read more: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/11/1 ... z1dub5Ix4F

US police find 'major drug tunnel' under Mexico border



14 tons of marijuana were found in the tunnel

US officials say they have uncovered a major drug-smuggling tunnel under the border with Mexico and seized an estimated 14 tons of marijuana.

Customs officials said the tunnel linked warehouses in Tijuana, Mexico, and Otay Mesa, in California.

Pictures of the tunnel showed wooden supports and electric cables indicative of lighting and ventilation systems.

Dozens of such tunnels have been found in recent years as US police have cracked down on overland smuggling.

More than 30 have been discovered this year, Mexican authorities said, according to AFP news agency.

The tunnels are also used to smuggle illegal migrants into the US.

Nine or 10 tons of marijuana was found on the US side of the tunnel while Mexican police seized five tons on their end, said Derek Benner, a special agent with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

The tunnel was estimated at 400 yards (365m) in length but it was not clear how deep or wide it was.

Other tunnels found by US police have included tracks, lights and ventilation systems.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15767971