Cartels push across the border through drug tunnels

Under the ground between Tijuana and San Diego, organized crime has built a hidden transport network equipped with ventilation, electricity and rails. U.S. authorities say they will devote personnel, technology and resources to neutralizing tunnels used to move people, illegal goods, money and drugs across the border.

The threat extends from the mountainous area around San Diego to the sea. The tunnels also use sections of Tijuana's sewage infrastructure and the San Ysidro border crossing. During a tour shown to EL UNIVERSAL, Border Patrol personnel from the San Diego sector described the tunnels as part of the internal war among criminal groups in Mexico.

The underground network is tied to competition involving the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the Sinaloa Cartel, what remains of the Arellano brothers' organization and smaller groups. U.S. authorities consider it a security threat along the San Diego border.

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While there is air, the most someone can stay in there is eight hours.

Border Patrol agents have also identified the movement of high-value migrants who can pay as much as $20,000 to be taken across by land or even by sea. Some are assessed for passage through tunnels built on the Mexican side. EL UNIVERSAL was given access to one sophisticated tunnel that Mexican criminal groups are preparing to use for money, weapons and drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl.

Unlike rudimentary passages, the tunnel is cold, narrow and dark, with limited oxygen. Officials said a person could remain inside for at most eight hours while air remained available. Agents acknowledged that detecting tunnels is difficult in a commercial area filled with warehouses, heavy vehicles and airport traffic, conditions criminal organizations seek to exploit.

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Criminal organizations try to exploit those means because it makes things easier for them.