Task Force Uncovers 14 Tons of Marijuana & Cross-Border Tunnel
During a multi-agency task force investigation coordinated by U.S. and Mexican authorities, over 14 tons of marijuana and a cross-border tunnel between San Diego and Tijuana were discovered on Tuesday.
Similar drug smuggling tunnels have been uncovered in recent years, usually located in the light industrial area of San Diego's Otay Mesa neighborhood. The most recently discovered passageway, which was less sophisticated than others of its kind, linked to an industrial building near the Tijuana airport and was about four football fields long, almost four feet wide and more than five feet tall.
Mexican soldiers were found standing guard over about three tons of stacked marijuana bundles in the building. The packages were labeled with pictures of Captain America. Mexican Gen. Gilberto Landeros Briseno said during an interview that the symbol is used by the Sinaloa drug cartel.
Mexican authorities seized 778 packages of marijuana from the tunnel. Some bundles were discreetly marked with a sticker of a Bud Light bottle with a marijuana leaf in the middle while others were decorated with stickers of Sprite bottles.
Arrests have yet to be made by Mexican authorities, who suspect drug trafficker "El Achilles."
