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Arrest Made In Connection To Drug Tunnel
Drug Tunnel Longest Ever Found Along Border

POSTED: 8:24 am PST January 30, 2006
UPDATED: 8:36 am PST January 30, 2006

SAN DIEGO -- U.S. officials announced Monday that a Mexican citizen has been arrested on drug charges in the investigation into the longest cross-border tunnel ever found along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The suspect's identity has yet to be released. He was taken into custody Saturday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

He is expected to be arraigned in San Diego later Monday on charges of conspiracy to import a controlled substance.

More than two tons of marijuana were found inside the tunnel discovered last week. The tunnel runs about 2,400 feet from a warehouse near the airport in Tijuana, Mexico, to a warehouse in San Diego's Otay Mesa industrial district.

The allegations against the Mexican man stem from his connection to the warehouse, which was operated by V & F Distributors. Real estate records show the company, which incorporated last year in California, paid $2 million to lease the 49,000-square-foot commercial warehouse for five years with the stated purpose of distributing produce.