Drug cartel tunnels to US
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.POLICE have discovered that cocaine smugglers have dug a long and sophisticated tunnel underneath the border between the United States and Mexico, complete with air conditioning, lights and a trolley track.
The find, by Mexican officials searching for the killers of a Catholic cardinal shot dead at Guadalajara airport, shocked authorities on both sides of the border engaged in a war against drug traffickers.
Police said that the quarter- mile tunnel runs from a site close to Tijuana airport in Mexico to an industrial zone in southern San Diego, California, and was about 50ft from completion. It was found beneath a warehouse, and appeared destined for a second warehouse being built on the other side.
The Mexican authorities believe that it was the work of a cartel headed by Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, one of the country's most powerful mafia godfathers whom they claim was the intended target of last month's shoot-out in Guadalajara. Prosecutors maintain that assassins from a rival gang shot the cardinal, Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo, after mistaking him for the drugs baron.
The drugs traffickers appear to have planned to smuggle their wares to the US via the tunnel, then distribute them by lorry from the San Diego industrial zone - an area crowded with warehouses where heavy vehicles come and go around the clock. One US official said it was mind-boggling: 'They could have smuggled multi-ton quantities of cocaine . . . and it would have gone undetected.'
The discovery comes as the US authorities agonise over the likelihood that the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement will make it more difficult to control drug running. The Mexican cartels are believed responsible for smuggling 70 per cent of the cocaine that enters the US each year.
The 'drug-tunnel', which cost an estimated dollars 1.5m ( pounds 970,000) to dig, is about 5ft high and 4ft wide. It was discovered after Mexican agents found documents in one of 15 traffickers' 'safe-houses' unearthed in Tijuana since the search for the cardinal's killers began. They have also recovered weapons, including grenade launchers. This is the second cross-border tunnel to be discovered - a smaller one was found in 1990 running into Arizona.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments