Suspected drug cartel tunnel discovered along US-Mexico border

SAN DIEGO – A nearly 2,000-foot-long tunnel stretching from Tijuana to Otay Mesa in San Diego County was recently discovered by law enforcement officials, leading to federal drug distribution charges announced Monday against four people.

According to the US Attorney’s Office, the tunnel led into a fake store in Otay Mesa called “Buy 4 Less,” which investigators have been surveilling since December “due to suspicious activity.”

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Photo from US Customs and Border Protection

Investigators regularly saw a group of supposed employees in and around the store, though the location “did not appear to be consistent with a normal retail location” and featured “minimal foot traffic from customers coming in and out of the Buy 4 Less store,” according to the US Attorney’s Office.

Last Friday, agents stopped a van and two trucks that either departed Buy 4 Less or received cargo from a vehicle that had left the store.

Inside the three vehicles, agents found a combined 2,269.87 pounds of cocaine in more than 850 packages, the US Attorney’s Office said.

The Buy 4 Less store was searched, revealing the tunnel’s exit point, which was hidden beneath the floor of a storage room.

The US Attorney’s Office says the tunnel is about 55 feet deep and extends 1,064 from the store to the US-Mexico border, then is estimated to extend another 800 feet to its entry point.

The tunnel is accessed by “a sophisticated hydraulic lift” and is equipped with electricity and ventilation, prosecutors said.

Charged in the case are Gregorio Epifanio Hernandez Lopez, 29, of San Diego; Jose Jimenez, 32, of San Diego; Antonio Cortez, 18, of Mexico; and Brandon Escalante Sandoval, 26, of Mexico. Prosecutors say the defendants were spotted driving the vehicles in question prior to being stopped by agents.

The tunnel is one of 99 discovered in the Southern District of California since 1993, and the first since 2022, according to the US Attorney’s Office. (CNS)

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