Border patrol agents discovered an underground tunnel connecting a residence in Tijuana to the San Diego area, which authorities said was being built to smuggle narcotics across the border undetected.
Agents assigned to the San Diego Sector Tunnel Team, part of the U.S. Border Patrol operation, found the "drug smuggling" tunnel while it was being actively constructed in early April, according to a June 18 news release from Customs and Border Protection. When they entered the tunnel, they discovered a "highly sophisticated" system with electrical wiring, lights and a track "designed for transporting large quantities of contraband," the release said.
In total, the tunnel spanned 2,918 feet, or just over half a mile, and reached more than 1,000 feet into U.S. territory, the release said. It was about 42 inches in height, 28 inches in width and approximately 50 feet underground at its deepest point, officials said. Inside the tunnel were makeshift barricades and at its end point in the Nueva Tijuana neighborhood, Mexican authorities discovered the entrance had been recently tiled over.
Photos shared by the agency show the inside of the tunnel with stone walls and a metal track system. One photo showed an agent crawling along the track on their stomach.
