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Tunnel Traffickers Nabbed
San Diego – In a major blow to international drug trafficking, federal officials have seized what is believed to be the longest cross-border tunnel ever discovered along the California-Mexico border. The tunnel, stretching over 800 yards in length, was used to smuggle more than a ton of cocaine and 14,000 pounds of marijuana, making it the single-largest cocaine seizure ever associated with a Southern California tunnel.
The tunnel, equipped with rail and ventilation systems, lights and a sophisticated large elevator, was discovered after federal agents observed a white commercial truck deliver an industrial dumpster to a lot in Otay Mesa on Marconi Drive and Enrico Fermi Drive. Agents saw the truck back up and, with direction from some of the defendants, drop the dumpster over a specific area that was later discovered to have a hole descending 10 feet into the ground and connecting to an underground tunnel leading to the U.S. Mexico border.
Agents noticed the dumpster appeared to be filled with wood scraps, but soon uncovered a three-foot-diameter hole that was used as the tunnel’s exit on the U.S. side. The exit was covered by a jumbo-sized industrial dumpster. Inside the tunnel, agents found 68 bales of marijuana weighing 1,638 pounds, as well as an additional 1,430 pounds of marijuana in the dumpster.
Six people were arrested in San Diego Friday and charged by federal complaint with various drug trafficking and tunnel-related charges, including conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine and conspiracy to use a border tunnel. The defendants include Martiniano Garcia-Sedano, Cruz Armando Parra Corrales, Alejandro Bravo, Juan Carlos Chavez Fabian, Alejandro Gomez-Baez and Osmel Martinez. They were arraigned in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Major and remain in custody pending detention hearings.
On April 12, agents saw a white commercial truck deliver the industrial dumpster to a lot in Otay Mesa on Marconi Drive and Enrico Fermi Drive. Two days later, agents saw two people cover the dumpster with a tarp, and 10 minutes later, a forklift removed stacks of wooden pallets away from the front of the dumpster. Agents watched as defendant Cruz Armando Parra Corrales got down on the ground in a push-up position with his face close to the bottom of the dumpster, apparently communicating with someone who was inside the dumpster or inside a tunnel below the dumpster.
Agents obtained warrants to search the lots and found the tunnel exit and the stash of marijuana. In total, authorities seized 2,242 pounds of cocaine and more than 14,000 pounds of marijuana, valued at tens of millions of dollars.
“On the surface, few would ever suspect that traffickers were moving multi-ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana worth tens of millions of dollars in such an unassuming way, through this rabbit hole in the ground, in full view of the public,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Salel.
Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime|Sex Crimes|Cybercrime|Public Corruption|Weapons|Human Trafficking|White Collar Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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