Posted on 01/30/2006 9:39:51 AM PST by LouAvul
SAN DIEGO (AP) - A Mexican citizen has been arrested on drug charges in the investigation into the longest cross-border tunnel ever found along the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. officials announced Monday.
The suspect, whose identity was not immediately released, was taken into custody Saturday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
He was expected to be arraigned Monday on charges of conspiracy to import a controlled substance.
More than two tons of marijuana were found inside the tunnel discovered last week. It ran about 2,400 feet from a warehouse near the airport in Tijuana, Mexico, to a warehouse in San Diego's Otay Mesa industrial district.
Authorities said the tunnel was as deep as 90 feet below the surface, had a cement-lined floor, lights that ran down one of the hard soil walls, a groundwater pump and pipes that circulated fresh air. The shaft was about five feet high.
The allegations against the Mexican man stemmed from his connection to the U.S. warehouse, which was operated by V&F Distributors LLC. The company, which incorporated last year in California, paid $2 million to lease the 49,377-square-foot commercial warehouse for five years with the stated purpose of distributing produce, according to real estate records.
On Friday, immigration authorities warned it had received intelligence that the Mexican drug cartel behind the tunnel had threatened the lives of people who had used it as well as the lives of those involved in the passageway's design or construction. ICE appealed to those people to seek out U.S. immigration agents at Mexican border crossings and pledged to do everything possible to protect them.
(Excerpt) Read more at modbee.com ...
ping
You have to credit them with truth in advertising. Someone gives them "produce", and then it gets distributed. Coke and weed, along with heroin, are all produced from plants.
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Support our Minutemen Patriots!
Be Ever Vigilant ~ Bump!
Deport all criminal invaders ~ Bump!
Hang 'em High ~ Bump!
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20060127-9999-1n27tunnel.html
Pictures available at website
The head of the San Diego DEA office was asked at a news conference yesterday if the Arellano-Felix cartel was responsible for the tunnel.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0127BorderTunnels27-ON.html
V&F Distributors apparently stands for the initials of its two principals - Vicente Rodriguez of San Diego and Fernando Avila of Tijuana, Mexico.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/26/national/main1243546.shtml
More pics
Fast Fact
The tunnel was about five feet wide and high enough for an adult to stand inside, had a cement floor, and lights mounted on one of the hard soil walls.
A green sign over the door said V&F Distributors LLC. County records listed the building's owner as Helen Park of Long Beach.
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