US-Mexico border tunnel bust seizes over one ton of cocaine

Federal prosecutors have charged four individuals – two U.S. citizens and two Mexican nationals – with trafficking more than one ton of cocaine for the Jalisco New Generation cartel through a sophisticated underground tunnel linking San Diego, California, to Tijuana, Mexico. The tunnel was discovered beneath a vacant retail outlet called “Buy 4 Less” in the Otay Mesa area after Homeland Security Investigations agents observed abnormal activity at the site, including men carrying empty suitcases across the border.

The tunnel, 55 feet deep and over 1,000 feet long, was equipped with a rail‑and‑cart system, electricity and ventilation, and extended roughly 800 feet into Tijuana. On May 29, agents stopped a truck loaded with deep‑freezer units that held the drugs; drug‑sniffing dogs flagged the cargo. Searches of two other vehicles uncovered additional cocaine, totaling more than 2,250 pounds (about 1,020 kilograms). The suspects face potential life‑sentence terms, and one defendant also faces a charge for constructing, financing, or using an unauthorized tunnel. The bust is the first discovery of such a tunnel in Southern California since 2022 and underscores ongoing cross‑border drug‑ trafficking challenges.