Thread: Authorities discover 32 tons of marijuana in tunnel

APNewsBreak: Authorities discover drug-smuggling tunnel between Mexico and San Diego

By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, November 29, 12:44 PM

SAN DIEGO — U.S. authorities believe they have found another cross-border drug-smuggling tunnel between Mexico and San Diego.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack says the tunnel was found Tuesday in a warehouse in the city’s Otay Mesa era. She released no other details.

The discovery isn’t the first. Another tunnel was found in the same area last week, and authorities seized about 17 tons of marijuana.

On Monday, a Mexican trucker was sentenced to nearly 16 years in prison for his role in a scheme that passed more than 50 tons of marijuana through two tunnels that linked warehouses in San Diego and Tijuana.

Those tunnels were raided last year and had lighting, ventilation and even rail cars.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/ ... story.html

Possible drug tunnel exit found in Otay Mesa

Mexican authorities continue to search for Tijuana entrance

Written by Sandra Dibble
12:54 p.m., Nov. 29, 2011

For the second time in two weeks, U.S. authorities on Tuesday discovered the exit of a suspected cross-border drug tunnel inside an Otay Mesa warehouse.

Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed the finding by members of the San Diego Tunnel Task Force. “We are unable to release any additional details yet,â€

Authorities find 32 tons of marijuana in latest border drug-smuggling tunnel in San Diego

By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, November 30, 11:21 AM

SAN DIEGO — Authorities have discovered a major cross-border tunnel linking warehouses in San Diego and Tijuana and found more than 32 tons of marijuana in one of the largest pot busts in U.S. history, immigration officials said Wednesday.

The 600-yard passage was equipped with a hydraulic lift, electric rail cars, a wooden staircase and wood floors from one end to the other, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Derek Benner told The Associated Press.

( U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, File / Associated Press ) - FILE - This file photo released Friday, Nov. 26, 2010, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows a cross-border tunnel that authorities say was used as a major underground drug passage. The tunnel was 2,200 feet long, more than seven football fields, and ran from the kitchen of a home in Tijuana, Mexico, to two warehouses in San Diego’s Otay Mesa industrial district. Mexican trucker Daniel Navarro was sentenced Monday, Nov. 28, 2011, to nearly 16 years in prison for his role in two major drug tunnels along the U.S.-Mexico border federal Authorities who raided the tunnels seized about 50 tons of marijuana.

The passage was lit and ventilated, and ICE’s head investigator in San Diego said it is tall and wide enough for comfortable movement inside.

Several arrests have been made. Authorities believe operations in the tunnel began recently.

The discovery Tuesday was the latest in a spate of secret passages found to smuggle drugs from Mexico.

“It is clearly the most sophisticated, major tunnel that we have found in the last five years, perhaps ever,â€

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'Most Sophisticated' Drug Tunnel Found on US-Mex Border'
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