Posted on 03/23/2016 7:39:21 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
SAN DIEGO, California — Authorities have discovered a 415-yard tunnel used to smuggle drugs from Mexico into the U.S., and the traffickers reportedly bought land and built a home in order to conceal the American side.
ABC News reports the tunnel ran from a restaurant in Mexicali, Mexico, to the living room of a three-bedroom home in Calexico, California, a city located just east of San Diego.
Four people have been arrested and more than a ton of marijuana was seized, the Los Angeles Times reports. The drugs are valued at more than $1 million.
Investigators with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations say this is the first time they've seen traffickers buy land and build a home for the sole purpose of concealing a tunnel.
According to the Times, the $86,000 home's construction was completed in December. The property for the home was purchased in April for $240,000, the Associated Press reports.
ABC reports the tunnel extended about 32 feet underground and had lights, electricity and a rail system.
Authorities believe drugs were first smuggled through the tunnel after Feb. 28.
"This house and tunnel were constructed under the watchful eye of law enforcement," Laura Duffy, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, said in a statement. "For the builders, the financiers and the operators of these passageways, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. We will seize your drugs and your tunnel before you even have a chance to use it."
The AP reports two men were arrested Wednesday at Calexico, and two women were arrested Tuesday in Arizona. One of the women was the purchaser of the home.
A drug-enforcement agent said the investigation is "very much" ongoing.
Border ping.
(grin) This reminds me of some home improvement project as described by Sunset Magazine. Maybe that's where they get their ideas....
This tunnel was only 32 feet down, so ground penetrating radar could have found it. Patrol vehicles taking snapshots every 50 feet as they move along the border could find voids that deep. Unfortunately, if it had been even 50 feet down GPR would not find it.
I am surprised this tunnel wasn’t deeper. Compared to crossing 415 yards of horizontal distance, going down another 25 feet at each end would seem trivial.
Maybe drill well holes 200 feet deep every 75 feet along the border and then drop a GPR emitter down each hole before moving on to the next hole ?
It obviously isn’t an easy problem or the Israelis wouldn’t have the problem with tunnels that they do.
200 feet deep and stocked with piranha. Imagine breaking through into that and having piranha chewing your face as you try to back out.
Maybe a home but there have been numerous tunnels that have been discovered coming up in warehouses along the border. Why would a house be out of the question.
When you are talking about millions of dollars of drugs what is a million dollar one time investment in land and house.
Feds are so stupid to not consider this before.
Hire some North Korean tunnelers to design a detection system.
Or just have a no man zone, pvc pipes are set at different depths at intervals, when one gets triggered a thermobaric grenade is automatically dropped down the pipe.
As penalty for constructing the tunnel, those convicted will have to take a bucket and shovel and fill the tunnel back up with dirt.
I think they have high tech radar being used to find these tunnels. When they find one, they watch them run the drugs out to the distribution network. Then they tear down the whole web.
They still smuggle bulk shipments of marijuana into California?
Reefer is legal in Oregon, Washington state, Alaska, and Colorado.
“Medical” marijuana is legal in many other western states, including California.
Humboldt County and Berkeley, California essentially ignore national and state marijuana laws.
On the West Coast, I’m going to guess the price of marijuana has come down even faster than the price of oil!
I was thinking the same thing. Why not a house?
That is assuming the tunnel is only 3 feet wide by 3 feet high. My guess it is larger.
Thanks to pot criminalization creating a monopoly (and giving it to criminals).
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