“Major” US-Mexico drug tunnel discovered
Air interdiction agent Jake Linde from the U.S. Office of Air and Marine boards his helicopter to fly over the Sonoran Desert while searching for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers on December 9, 2010 in the Tohono O’odham Reservation, Arizona.
US officials announced on Wednesday that a "major cross-border drug tunnel" between California and Mexico has been discovered, Reuters reported.
The tunnel links warehouses south of San Diego with the city of Tijuana, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency said in a statement, according to Reuters. ICE also said that during searches related to the investigation of the tunnel, authorities had confiscated an estimated 14 tons of marijuana.
According to the Associated Press, cross-border tunnels have "proliferated in recent years," but the tunnel discovered Tuesday is among the most significant ones found yet.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the investigation was a multi-agency effort that also involved the Mexican military. According to the newspaper, on the Mexico side, the tunnel ended at an industrial building near the Tijuana airport. Mexican soldiers on Wednesday were seen guarding packages of marijuana, "labeled with pictures of Capt. America, the symbol used by a major operator of the Sinaloa drug cartel in Tijuana," Mexican Gen. Gilberto Landeros Briseno told the Mexican media.
Reuters reported that US authorities were preparing to offer more details about the tunnel in a news conference later on Wednesday.
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