More Tunnel Rats

It was about a year ago that an incredibly sophisticated tunnel was discovered that went from San Diego to Tijuana. At that time 50 tons of marijuana was captured. That tunnel had lighting and a rail track system and ventilation.

A story from November 16, 2011 tells of another major tunnel discovered. This one also went from a San Diego warehouse about 400 yards to a Tijuana warehouse. That’s the length of four football fields.

Authorities captured not sixteen tons of marijuana, but actually 17. Nine tons were seized inside of a truck in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego and the other eight tons were seized on the other side of the border. Authorities called this tunnel one of the most significant secret drug smuggling passages ever found on the US-Mexico border. The packages were marked with labels of Captain America, Sprite, and Bud Light, which are codes identifying the owners of the packages.

The tunnel showed a lot of time and effort, and no doubt it will be missed by its builders. It was four feet high and three feet wide and twenty feet lower on the US side than the Mexican side. It had lighting and ventilation systems installed in it.

The two men who left the warehouse in a truck packed with three tons of weed didn’t reckon on the fact that the smell of the stuff would be obvious to others. A California Highway Patrol officer sure noticed the overwhelming smell, pulled them over in La Mesa, and arrested them. They each could get life in prison for conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Over 70 tunnels have been found on the border since October 2008. Most were in San Diego or over in Nogales, Arizona where a tunnel was also found this week running from a drain in Mexico to a rented house in the U.S. Apparently it’s easier to dig them in California, but the drug dealers do branch out. There are also a lot of warehouses in that part of San Diego – perhaps something that should be investigated as well.

While politicians argue about a taller fence, drug traffickers dig tunnels, use low-flying aircraft, and catapults that lob large packages over the border. They come up the Pacific Coast in small boats as well.