Mexican Authorities Uncover High-Tech Tunnel Linked to Cross-Border Trafficking

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Mexican authorities have uncovered a sophisticated underground tunnel near the US-Mexico border that officials believe may have supported large-scale cross-border trafficking operations between Tijuana and San Diego.

The discovery has intensified concerns about cartel smuggling infrastructure along the southern border as criminal organizations continue developing increasingly advanced methods to move narcotics, weapons and contraband into the United States.

Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, known as the FGR, announced Saturday that authorities located the tunnel while executing a search warrant at a property in the Nueva Tijuana neighborhood of Tijuana, Baja California.

Investigators said the underground passage stretched roughly 265 meters, or approximately 870 feet, and descended more than 21 feet below ground level.

According to authorities, the tunnel featured lighting, ventilation systems and an electronic transport mechanism designed to move items in both directions between Mexico and the United States.

Officials said intelligence agents with the FGR’s Criminal Investigation Agency coordinated the operation alongside Mexico’s Security Cabinet.

Authorities believe the property may have operated as a logistics and trafficking hub connected to firearms, explosives and drug-smuggling activity.

Investigators recovered ammunition, suspected methamphetamine, suspected marijuana, cell phones and documents during the raid, officials said.

Photos released by Mexican authorities appeared to show federal agents navigating the narrow underground passageway as well as access shafts equipped with ladders and ventilation systems.

The FGR said evidence gathered so far suggests the tunnel may connect to a street in San Diego, though officials have not publicly identified the endpoint or confirmed whether American authorities have located the tunnel’s northern exit.

Officials described the latest tunnel discoveries as evidence that transnational criminal organizations continue investing heavily in elaborate underground smuggling operations designed to evade border enforcement.

“For these defendants, it wasn’t a light at the end of the tunnel. It was lights and sirens,” U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California said.

Mexican authorities said the evidence recovered in the Tijuana operation has been turned over to federal prosecutors in Baja California as the investigation continues.