Border officials discover drug-trafficking tunnel running from Mexico into California
The 183-foot long tunnel was about 22 feet underground
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents uncovered an extensive tunnel connecting Mexico to California that may have served as part of a massive drug trafficking operation.
Homeland Security Investigations, a sub-division of ICE, discovered the 183-foot long tunnel in Mexicali, Baja California, around 22 feet underground near the international border. Working with Mexican authorities, HIS San Diego Task Force agents determined that a drug trafficking organization dug the tunnel.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"These types of tunnels enable drug traffickers to conduct illicit activities virtually undetected across the U.S.–Mexico border," said Cardell T. Morant, special agent in charge of HSI San Diego. "Discovering and shutting down these tunnels deals a major blow to drug trafficking organizations because it denies them the ability to smuggle drugs, weapons and people across the border."
The tunnel’s entrance is about three feet north of the border wall but has no exit on the U.S. side of the border, the agency said in a press release.
The agency said it will continue to investigate the tunnel, its operation and origins, and it will continue to work with the Mexican government throughout the process.
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ICE has asked for the public’s assistance in identifying the location of subterranean tunnels. Anyone may anonymously report suspicious activity to the Tunnel Task Force at 1-877-9TUNNEL (1-877-988-6635).