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U.S., Mexico to Seal 3,000-Foot Tijuana-San Diego Drug Tunnel

Plans call for thousands of gallons of concrete to be poured into the disabled tunnel as part of efforts to halt narcotics trafficking.

PU.S. Border Patrol pictures show inside the 2,918 ft cross-border drug smuggling tunnel
An uncompleted smuggling tunnel between Tijuana and Otay Mesa uncovered by the U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego. A Tunnel Team agent crawls along the track. (U.S. Border Patrol)
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Overview

  • U.S. Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector Tunnel Team discovered the incomplete tunnel in early April beneath the Otay Mesa Port of Entry and mapped its nearly 2,918-foot length.
  • The passage measured 42 inches high, 28 inches wide and reached about 50 feet underground, with built-in lighting, electrical wiring, ventilation systems and a rail track for moving contraband.
  • Authorities located the tunnel entrance hidden beneath freshly laid tile inside a two-story home in Tijuana’s Nueva Tijuana neighborhood and seized an undisclosed amount of methamphetamine.
  • No arrests have been reported in connection with the tunnel’s construction or discovery despite coordination between U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations and Mexican security forces.
  • The disabled tunnel is one of more than 95 smuggling passages uncovered in the San Diego area since 1993.