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Mexican forces secure a building in Tijuana: this is where the tunnel begins
Photo: JORGE DUENES / REUTERS
US investigators have uncovered a secret drug smuggling tunnel between San Diego and the Mexican city of Tijuana.
The authorities have now announced that the emergency services found the approximately 800 meter long and 1.2 meter wide tunnel last Friday.
The secret passage was about six stories underground and had rail and ventilation systems, electricity and reinforced walls.
Six people between the ages of 31 and 55 are suspected of selling cocaine, sources said.
All six lived in southern California.
About 800 kilograms of cocaine, 75 kilograms of meth and 1.6 kilograms of heroin were seized in connection with the investigation, it is said.
"There's no light at the end of this narco tunnel," said Randy Grossman, US Attorney for the Southern District of California. "We will dig up every underground smuggling route we find to prevent illegal drugs from entering our streets." and destroying our families and communities.« According to the authorities, it is not yet known how many drugs may have been smuggled through the tunnel undetected.
The drug tunnel was discovered in a nondescript warehouse near San Diego's Otay Mesa border crossing.
There are many trucks on the adjacent road during the day, but the area is quiet at night.
On Monday, armed guards guarded a small shaft with a ladder that led down into the tunnel.
Since 2006, authorities have found about 15 such tunnels along the California-Mexico border.
Many tunnels were in Otay Mesa, where the soil is clay and invites you to dig.
Warehouses provide protection.
The authorities did not comment on which drug cartel the now discovered tunnel could be attributed to.
Under federal law, US authorities must now fill the tunnel with concrete.
ptz/AP