Mexican authorities locate drug tunnel on property near border port in Tijuana

Tijuana (Mexico), Jul 10 (EFE).- Mexican authorities located a man in the early hours of Wednesday a drug tunnel in the border city of Tijuana, Located on a property right next to the customs area and the Otay border crossing between Mexico and the United States.

According to reports, an anonymous call was the one that alerted regarding the discovery of this tunnel, which was immediately guarded by elements of the National Defense Secretariat (Sedena) and the Mexican Army.

General Leopoldo Tizoc Aguilar Durán, Secretary of Citizen Security of Baja California, reported that this drug tunnel is the first to be located in 2024, however, it is the third discovered in the same area in the last four years.

“There are already records of at least three other tunnels having been found in that area, one 22 (meters deep), another 16 (meters deep) and this is the third in the same area, very close to the customs area, but investigations continue to find out how far it goes on the other side,” he said.

The official explained that there has already been bilateral coordination with the Government and authorities, so the US side is also investigating to find out the condition of the tunnel, whether it is unfinished, whether it has an exit or what function it had.

“This is the first tunnel to be found this year, but it is a federal investigation. So far, there are no arrests, but it is in an industrial park area and the owners will be part of the investigation,” he said.

Personnel from the National Guard and the Mexican Army guard a site where the construction of a drug tunnel between Mexico and the United States was discovered, this Wednesday in the city of Tijuana (Mexico). EFE/Joebeth Terríquez

The general also highlighted that, because it is a recurring problem in the area and has a historical background, this issue has generated binational meetings at the federal level where the treatment of problems on the border has been stipulated, which range from trafficking, illegal migration, human trafficking and of course the tunnels.

According to the data obtained, the last drug tunnel that had been discovered in Tijuana was on May 11, 2023, in a vacant lot a few meters from the San Ysidro border crossing.

Prior to this, on May 20, 2022, a simple one-story house located in a popular neighborhood in the industrial zone of Tijuana was the site where another drug tunnel was also located, which had a depth of 18 meters and a length of 532 meters. Both were sealed and closed.

Mexican authorities report that at least 15 tunnels have been found on the California-Mexico border since 2006, mainly in the Otay industrial zone, where authorities have said the type of terrain facilitates their construction.

The largest drug tunnel discovered was in January 2020 between Tijuana (Mexico) and San Diego (USA). It had lighting, air conditioning, a high-voltage power supply, an elevator, and a rail system on which a cart, similar to those used in mining, rolled to transport drugs under the International Line.