7 tons of marijuana seized in longest Otay Mesa cross-border tunnel
Federal agents shut what officials called the longest cross-border tunnel yet found on the California-Mexico border, running 800 yards from a Tijuana house to a commercial lot in San Diego's Otay Mesa. They seized more than 14,000 pounds of marijuana along with cocaine, and arrested six people.
🇺🇸 Otay Mesa, San Diego · California, United States
Federal agents seized what the U.S. Attorney’s Office called the longest
cross-border tunnel ever discovered on the California-Mexico border, an
800-yard passage running from a house in Tijuana to an outdoor fenced
commercial lot in an Otay Mesa industrial park about 500 yards north of the
border.[1]The tunnel sat 46 feet underground, had a ventilation system and
lighting, and ended at a lot advertised as a wooden pallet business.[2]
Agents found two tons of cocaine and seven tons of marijuana, worth nearly 22
million dollars combined, and officials called it the largest cocaine seizure
ever associated with a tunnel.[1]The marijuana totalled more than 14,000
pounds, about 6,350 kg.[2]Agents had been chasing alleged traffickers when
they saw a commercial truck deliver an industrial dumpster full of wood scraps
to the lot and found the tunnel entry.[2]
Six people were arrested in San Diego and charged with various drug
trafficking charges.[1]U.S.
Attorney Laura Duffy said traffickers were moving multi-ton quantities of
cocaine and marijuana through the tunnel in full view of the world around it.[1]The tunnel was the thirteenth sophisticated tunnel found on the
California-Mexico border since 2006, and it was not attributed to any specific
trafficking group.[2]
Photos and video
Photo of the tunnel opening published with the seizure report. Photo: U.S. Attorney's Office, via Gephardt Daily (UPI)Photo details
The opened reports date the official announcement to 20 April 2016 but describe the discovery and the arrests only as the preceding days, so the exact sequence is not pinned down.
Other outlets give the cocaine seizure as one ton or just over 2,000 pounds rather than two tons; this report records only the cannabis figure, on which the opened sources agree.
No trial outcome or sentence for the six arrested people is reported in the opened accounts.
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