San Diego drug tunnel had railcar, tons of pot

Associated Press ^ | 11/26/2010 6:39:07 PM ET | ELLIOT SPAGAT

[newzjunkey]

A sophisticated cross-border tunnel equipped with a rail system, ventilation and fluorescent lighting has been shut down by U.S. and Mexican officials — the second discovery of a major underground drug passage in San Diego this month, authorities said Friday.

The tunnel found Thursday is 2,200 feet long — more than seven football fields — and runs from the kitchen of a home in Tijuana, Mexico, to two warehouses in San Diego...

[newzjunkey]

This isn't the first of these sophisticated tunnels and won't be the last I'm sure. This one is believed to be work of the Sinaloa cartel.

Photo by ICE.

[count-your-change]

Light rail comes to San Diego. Yippee!!

[Frantzie]

Are these the warehouses in SD?

[Minn]

If ever there were a good case for eminent domain condemnation, you'd think this was it. Maybe the public imperative dictates that we just can't have warehouses, or anything, within close proximity to the Mexican border in urban areas.

Or maybe, given the area involved, that's impractical.

You'd think some sort of sonar or seismic instruments could detect rail bed being laid down in a tunnel near the surface.

[Beaten Valve]

They’re in Otay Mesa...

[MissDairyGoodnessVT]

hoooolllyyyyy cowwwwwwwwww

[Domangart]

I think thats our first high speed line.

[magooey]

Shutting the drug tunnels down can really improve the national balance of payments.

[count-your-change]

Is it called The Mary Jane Express? Kind of a “joint” operation, a Weed on Wheels so to speak?

[HiTech RedNeck]

choo choo

[meyer]

A little judicious use of explosives would solve the problem quickly. If they time it right, they could capture the drug train between two collapsed ends of the tunnel where there would be no escape.

[FlyingEagle]

Impressive. Shut down because someone must have not received their payolla. There will be some extra heads in ice chests showing up now.

[major-pelham]

It’s amazing what free enterprise can accomplish ! This event tells u that we need troops on the border to stop illegal commerce in humans and drugs and weapons. There’s simply no other way.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Al Capone would have been proud. Let’s end prohibition, it fuels violence and destroys respect for the law. And, no, I don’t and I won’t if it were legal.

[Oldexpat]

If one googles the border crossing in SD..and move the screen along the border..you will see that there are relatively few structures that could conceal a tunnel. All these buildings should be legitimate business’s with little hesitation to give the BP access to the building without search warrants.
Frequent inspections would end the threat of tunnels. That is if they really wanted to end the smuggling.

[freeangel]

“A little judicious use of explosives would solve the problem quickly. If they time it right, they could capture the drug train between two collapsed ends of the tunnel where there would be no escape.”

I vote for that!

[A Strict Constructionist]

“A little judicious use of explosives would solve the problem quickly.”

Sorry, it will call for an environmental impact study and comment from the drug lords before explosives can be used.

[Vinnie]

The amount of dirt having to be moved would be a dead give away of tunnel construction.
The Mexican authorities couldn’t miss something like that.
Cameras on the US side of the border should be able to pick up repetitive truck activity in a neighborhood across the border. Esp. around a private residence.

[Vaduz]

Shut down because someone must have not received their payolla.
Or the California growers want to stop Mexico from exporting.To many large busts of late for the Mexicans,It looks like even if the crap becomes legal it won’t stop the drug wars.

[tiki]

I wonder if they submitted an environmental impact statement before they built the tunnel, just askin’...