Overview
- Mexican investigators uncovered the tunnel while executing a search warrant at an apartment in Nueva Tijuana, where a shaft and ladder led down to the underground passage.
- Authorities say the passage runs roughly 265 meters, sits about 6 to 6.3 meters deep, is fully lined and contains its own lighting, ventilation and a rail transport system.
- Officers seized ammunition, suspected methamphetamine, marijuana, mobile phones and documents at the apartment that prosecutors say was used as a logistics site.
- U.S. Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego confirmed special agents are conducting enforcement activity on the Otay Mesa side while some U.S. media report the tunnel may end in the storage room of a shop named Buy 4 Less, a detail not yet officially corroborated.
- The find highlights the technical sophistication of cross-border smuggling tunnels, could prompt closer U.S.-Mexico operational cooperation and may increase security scrutiny in the days before the jointly hosted World Cup.