$45M cocaine bust uncovers massive tunnel to Mexico under supposed discount store
The Justice Department released video showing the tunnel leading to Mexico that ran below a supposed retail store in San Diego. (Source: DOJ)
What looked like a San Diego discount retail store turned out to be something more nefarious, and what was allegedly sold there was a lot more dangerous than snack foods and cleaning supplies.
Big picture view:
A sophisticated tunnel more than a third of a mile long that stretched across the border into Mexico was discovered under the store, the Department of Justice reported Tuesday. The discovery came after a massive cocaine bust that took $45 million worth of the drug off the street.
No ordinary tunnel
Dig Deeper: The supposed store was named "Buy 4 Less" and sat in San Diego’s Otay Mesa neighborhood, which is situated right along the southern border, the Justice Department explained. Below a storage room floor, federal agents found the entrance to a tunnel that took them approximately 55 feet underground and along a 1,933-foot path into Tijuana, Mexico.
The elaborate tunnel, which was 4.5 feet tall at some points, was far more than a hole that ran from one country to another. It had its own hydraulic lift, electric supply, and ventilation system, the DOJ noted.
A ton of cocaine
The arrests that led to the discovery of the tunnel were a huge win for law enforcement as well.
Timeline:
On Friday, after six months of surveillance by Homeland Security Investigations Tunnel Task Force, federal agents made their move.
First, they followed a van that left the "Buy 4 Less" and watched as it backed up to another van after reaching its destination, the DOJ continued. The agents also reported seeing three deep freezers being transferred onto a truck. Deputies with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office stopped the truck, and a K9 unit let law enforcement know there were likely drugs on it.
Not long afterward, another truck that had been loaded with heavy boxes left the "Buy 4 Less." Once again, deputies were there, and, once again, a K9 unit detected possible drugs. Finally, law enforcement stopped one of the vans from the first set of alleged exchanges, the one that had met with the van that left the store.
By the numbers:
The truck in the first stop and the van pulled over during the third bust each had just over 600 pounds of cocaine on them, with the truck having 173 packages and the van having 255 packages, according to the Justice Department. The second truck, meanwhile, is reported to have been carrying a little more than a half-ton of cocaine, with law enforcement counting 423 packages.
When it was all added up, authorities had seized 2,269.87 pounds of the drug, which they estimated to be worth $45 million.
What's next:
Two San Diego men – Gregorio Epifanio Hernandez Lopez, 29, and Jose Jimenez, 32 – as well as two men from Mexico – Antonio Cortez, 18, and Brandon Escalante Sandoval, 26 – were arrested in connection with the operation.
They all face charges of distribution of a controlled substance, while Hernandez Lopez is also accused of importation of a controlled substance, and constructing an unauthorized tunnel. All three of those charges carry potential life sentences and up to a $10 million fine.
Dig deeper:
The Justice Department’s statement noted that this was the 99th tunnel discovered in its Southern District of California since 1993, with the most recent one being found in 2022.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from the Department of Justice. This story was reported from Orlando.