San Diego-Tijuana drug tunnel bust, Prop. 19, and Latin America's drug war debate
US authorities this week found an 1,800-foot drug tunnel linking San Diego to Tijuana, and seized more than 25 tons of marijuana. Will it make a dent in the flow of drugs to the US?

By Matthew Clark, Staff Writer / November 4, 2010

US authorities this week found an 1,800-foot drug tunnel linking San Diego to Tijuana, and in the process seized more than 25 tons of marijuana estimated to be worth some $20 million.

Then, at the other end of the tunnel, Mexican soldiers on Wednesday seized about 4 tons of marijuana after raiding a warehouse, according to the Mexican military.

The discovery of the 4-by-3-foot tunnel points to the work of a major drug-running organization, authorities say.

"I can promise you there are some very unhappy people in the cartel," said John Morton, director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which leads the multi-agency San Diego Tunnel Task Force, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Indeed there must be. Even though some 75 tunnels along the US-Mexico border have been found in the past few years, few have been fully operational as this one was.

Mr. Morton also trumpeted increased coordination with – and responsiveness from – Mexican authorities.

It’s been a good couple of weeks for them.

Late last month, Mexico seized 105 tons of marijuana in what Mexico's national security spokesman Alejandro Poire called “the largest seizure in the country's history of marijuana prepared and packed for sale and distribution.â€