Tunnel found, elevator, rail cars, staircase and mucho drugs...

[Wolfmoon]

The tunnel discovered Tuesday was about 40 feet deep, 4 feet wide and 4 feet high.



Big Mexican border drug tunnel between San Diego and Tijuana discovered

Thursday, December 01, 2011


http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/12/big_mexican_border_drug_tunnel.html

SAN DIEGO -- The investigation into the largest marijuana bust at a cross-border tunnel followed a familiar timeline. It began in May and ended in November.

The secret passage linking warehouses in San Diego and Tijuana -- equipped with a hydraulic lift, electric rail carts and a wooden staircase -- highlights an emerging seasonal trend.

Tuesday's find netted more than 32 tons of marijuana -- nearly 17 tons at a warehouse in San Diego's Otay Mesa area, about 11 tons inside a truck in the Los Angeles area and 4 tons in Mexico.

 

[Wolfmoon]

San Diego drug tunnel stands out for sophistication

http://news.yahoo.com/san-diego-drug-tunnel-stands-sophistication-003608955.html

Reuters

November 30, 2011

The tunnel, which connected a warehouse in San Diego to another in Tijuana, is the fourth major illicit passageway found between the United States and Mexico this month.

"This is the most elaborate and sophisticated tunnel that has ever been discovered along the U.S.-Mexico border," said Derek Benner, special agent in charge for ICE Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego.
Officials said the tunnel had a hydraulically-controlled steel door, an elevator, electric rail cars on tracks, lighting, reinforced walls and wooden floors.

 

[Wolfmoon]

Elaborate drug tunnel yields record pot seizure

More than 32 tons recovered in the United States and Mexico


Elaborate drug tunnel yields record pot seizure | SignOnSanDiego.com

A six-month investigation into what authorities described Wednesday as the most sophisticated drug tunnel ever found beneath the California-Mexico border has resulted in six arrests and a record confiscation of more than 32 tons of marijuana.

The passageway, which dropped to 40 feet below ground and was 612 yards long, connected warehouses in Tijuana and Otay Mesa. It had an electric rail system, an elevator and walls shored up with wood.

 

[Wolfmoon]

Major border drug tunnel found in San Diego - CBS News

Mexican soldiers found the entrance on the south side of the border at a Tijuana warehouse after the U.S. opening was discovered. A photo released by U.S. authorities shows a hydraulic lift inside the Tijuana building.

Mexican soldiers guarded the two-story warehouse near the Tijuana airport as darkness fell. The white building had a broken window that was covered with paper and no exterior sign.

The Tijuana warehouse is on the same block as a federal police office and sits next to a packaging company and tortilla distributor.

 

[Mr. President]

Wow

 

[Wolfmoon]

IMO, they smuggle children in and out of those tunnels too.

 

[Wolfmoon]

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

NewsRelease:

Highly sophisticated cross-border drug tunnel discovered near San Diego

Nov. 30, 2011

Highly sophisticated cross-border drug tunnel discovered near San Diego
Investigators seize nearly $65 million worth of marijuana, arrest 6 suspects

On Wednesday, agencies with the San Diego Tunnel Task Force announced the arrest of six suspects and the seizure of more than 32 tons of marijuana following the discovery of the most elaborate smuggling tunnel uncovered along the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years. The 612-yard long passageway is equipped with electric rail cars, lighting, reinforced walls, and wooden floors. Full Story

 

[Wolfmoon]

News from DEA, Domestic Field Divisions, San Diego News Release 11/30/11


Second Major Cross-Border Drug Tunnel
Discovered South of San Diego This Month
Investigators seize 32 tons of marijuana, arrest 6 suspects

NOV 30 -- SAN DIEGO – Agencies with the San Diego Tunnel Task Force announced the arrest of six suspects and a record 32-ton marijuana seizure Wednesday in connection with the discovery of the most elaborate smuggling tunnel uncovered along the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years.

Investigators say the passageway found Tuesday following a six-month investigation by the multi-agency Task Force connects a warehouse in San Diego’s Otay Mesa industrial park with one in neighboring Tijuana, Mexico. The 612-yard long passageway is equipped with electric rail cars, lighting, reinforced walls and wooden floors.

“DEA and its partners in the Tunnel Task Force, working together along with the Government of Mexico are putting a stranglehold on the cartel’s ability to smuggle drugs into the United States”, says William R. Sherman, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA in San Diego. “Seizing close to 50 tons of marijuana in one month denies the cartels the financial means to continue their operations.”

On the Mexican side, the tunnel’s entrance is accessed through a hydraulically-controlled steel door and an elevator concealed beneath the warehouse floor. At the bottom of the tunnel shaft is a large storage room where agents recovered approximately three tons of marijuana. Another ton of marijuana was piled in bundles near the tunnel’s entrance. Meanwhile, investigators searched the Otay Mesa building that housed the tunnel’s U.S. entry point, where they found nearly 20 additional tons of marijuana wrapped in plastic and stacked neatly on pallets.

Task Force investigators’ entered the tunnel after enforcement actions Tuesday morning in the Los Angeles area confirmed suspicions about the passageway’s existence. The operation began unfolding Monday evening when investigators observed a tractor trailer truck leaving the Otay Mesa warehouse. After parking overnight in the Miramar area, a man picked up the rig early Tuesday and headed toward Los Angeles. Canines at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection-Border Patrol checkpoint in San Clemente alerted on the tractor trailer for the presence of drugs. Agents, aware of the ongoing investigation, waived the truck through the checkpoint and the driver proceeded to the City of Industry, Calif. There, he pulled into the parking lot of a warehouse located at 14837 Proctor Ave. and, together with three other individuals, began unloading the trailer’s contents.

At that point, agents moved in, taking custody of four suspects and seizing close to 11 tons of marijuana stacked inside the truck’s trailer. All told, Tuesday’s enforcement actions resulted in the interdiction of more than 32 tons of marijuana with an estimated street value of anywhere from $30 million to $35 million.

Two other suspects linked to the scheme were arrested overnight in Baldwin Park, Calif. The six defendants, all Hispanic males, are expected to make their initial appearance in federal court in San Diego Wednesday afternoon.

Federal officials say based upon their ongoing investigation, they believe this latest tunnel had only recently become operational.

The investigation into this latest cross-border passageway is being conducted by the San Diego Tunnel Task Force. The Task Force is made up of representatives from ICE HSI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. Formed in 2003, the Task Force uses a variety of techniques to detect cross-border tunnels, from state-of-the-art electronic surveillance to old fashioned detective work. That includes following up on tips, many of which come from the public.

Tuesday’s tunnel is the second major cross-border smuggling passageway detected in the San Diego area in the last two weeks. The Tunnel Task Force uncovered another tunnel Nov. 15 that came up inside a warehouse near the Otay Mesa border crossing. That enforcement action resulted in the seizure of more than 14 tons of marijuana. In the last four years, federal authorities have detected more than 75 cross-border smuggling tunnels, most of them in California and Arizona. The passageway uncovered Tuesday is the seventh large-scale drug smuggling tunnel discovered in the San Diego area since 2006.

Pics at LINK

 

[waltky]

Over 100 Mexican Mafia Arrested in San Diego...

Suspected Mexican Mafia, gang members held in San Diego
January 26, 2012 - Street gangs are targeted as authorities make more than 100 arrests in a wide-ranging investigation into alleged racketeering, firearms trafficking and drug distribution.

Authorities arrested more than 100 suspected gang members and associates throughout San Diego County on Wednesday morning as part of a wide-ranging investigation into alleged racketeering, firearms trafficking and drug distribution coordinated by the Mexican Mafia. Among those charged are two suspects believed to be high-ranking members of the Mexican Mafia, who are accused of overseeing the criminal activity, and 117 suspected members and associates of street gangs, who allegedly paid "taxes" to the prison-based organized crime group.

The charges were detailed in 17 indictments and eight criminal complaints filed by the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego. In early morning raids at homes throughout the county, federal and local officials arrested 104 of the defendants, including the suspected Mexican Mafia members. Fifteen suspects remain at large. The arrests mark "one of the largest single takedowns in San Diego FBI history," said Keith Slotter, the FBI's special agent in charge in San Diego.

The Mexican Mafia has ties with thousands of gang members in Southern California, authorities said. The suspected members charged in Wednesday's case, Rudy Espudo and Salvador Colabella, allegedly demanded regular extortion payments from gang members who sold drugs in areas controlled by the criminal organization. Street gangs from San Marcos in northern San Diego County to Chula Vista near the border were targeted in the investigation.

Source