CA: Officials Fill Cross-Border Drug Tunnel

Officials Fill Cross-Border Drug Tunnel

POSTED: 8:26 pm PST January 17, 2008


TECATE, Calif. -- A cross-border drug tunnel in Tecate is no longer in operation, according to officials.


The Border Patrol announced that they used cement to fill the suspected smuggling tunnel last Friday.

It was discovered on Dec. 3 when a Border Patrol K-9 unit alerted officials to a commercial storage trailer 360 yards north of the U.S.-Mexico border. An agent heard noise coming from a 30-foot trailer parked 150 feet north of the border crossing in Tecate, according to agency spokesman Matt Johnson. When he peered inside, the agent said he saw a pistol-toting man disappear into a hole.

Agents found almost 14,000 pounds of marijuana and an opening to the tunnel inside the trailer.

Border Patrol agents maintained security at the tunnel site from the time it was discovered until it was filled.

Authorities have discovered dozens of tunnels along the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years, with many clustered around San Diego and Nogales, Ariz.

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