SAN DIEGO, Calif. (NBC) – The U.S. Border Patrol and its partners say they have discovered the longest illicit cross-border tunnel ever along the southwest border.
More than three-quarters of a mile long, the tunnel links Tijuana to the United States via a passageway 70 feet below the earth. Investigators believe a cartel used it mostly to transit illegal drugs.
U.S. agents described the engineering inside the tunnel as elaborate, with an elevator, a rail system, electricity and ventilation. A warning system inside warns of dangerously low oxygen levels.
The entrance to the tunnel, measuring five feet high and two and a half feet wide, sits in an industrial area underneath a small building.
Authorities have made no arrests or seizures.
They did find an offshoot, another tunnel, still under construction.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.