Federal agents have uncovered a drug smuggling tunnel running from Tijuana, Mexico into a retail store near the US-Mexico border in San Diego. More than a ton of cocaine worth an estimated $45 million was seized. Four men now face federal charges.
The tunnel
The tunnel was found beneath a store called Buy 4 Less, located in a shopping center just feet from the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. It was not some crude hole in the ground. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the tunnel stretches 1,933 feet long and 55 feet deep.
Authorities described it as a sophisticated structure with lighting, ventilation, an electric rail system, wood shoring, and multiple staircases. This level of construction takes serious money and planning.
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The cartel connection
Authorities believe the tunnel was built and operated by Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful and violent drug trafficking organizations in Mexico. The cartel has expanded its reach across the United States in recent years and has increasingly turned to cocaine as primary revenue stream.
U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon put it plainly: “Cocaine is now the lifeblood of the cartels, and what you see here today is a cardiac arrest for their system.”
The fake store
The Buy 4 Less store was not a real business. Investigators say it was operating as a front, posing as a liquidated goods retailer selling appliances, luggage, and miscellaneous household items.
The Homeland Security Task Force monitored activity at the Buy 4 Less warehouse from December 2025 through May 2026. Agents noted the business attracted little customer traffic and appeared inconsistent with a normal retail operation. Investigators watched suspects frequently moving large suitcases in and out of the premises.
The store was close enough to the port of entry to make the tunnel route short and efficient. The location was no accident.
The bust
The Homeland Security Investigations Tunnel Task Force had been surveying the location for about six months before making their move.
The operation came to a head last Friday. The suspects allegedly attempted to move their first shipment of narcotics through the tunnel and into the U.S., and agents were ready.
The seizures included 286.2 kilograms from one truck, 469.4 kilograms from a second truck, and 274 kilograms from a van, for a combined weight of approximately 1,029.6 kilograms. In total, agents seized 851 packages of cocaine weighing 2,406 pounds, with an estimated bulk street value of $45 million.
The arrests
Four men were arrested and charged in connection with the tunnel. The suspects made their first court appearance Monday afternoon in a federal courtroom in San Diego, facing charges relating to building the tunnel and importing and distributing a controlled substance. Two of the four are from San Diego, and the other two are from Mexico.
The Department of Justice announced the charges outside the storefront, flanked by agents from multiple agencies including Border Patrol, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, and Customs and Border Protection.
A familiar stretch of border
This is not the first time a tunnel has been found in Otay Mesa. The area is in one of the most fortified stretches of the border, illustrating the limits of border walls. While walls are considered effective against small, crudely dug tunnels, they are no match for more sophisticated passages that run deep underground.
There have been 90 subterranean passageways found in the Southern District of California since 1993, 27 of which are considered sophisticated. The clay-like soil in the Otay Mesa industrial zone makes digging easier, and the warehouses and commercial buildings above provide cover.
Cartels have used tunnels as far back as the early 1990s. Notorious drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman famously used a tunnel to escape from prison. The tactic has never gone away.
Now what?
Kevin Murphy, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations San Diego, called the seizure a significant blow to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. That may be true in the short term. But the cartel has the resources to build again.
The fact that agents waited six months and struck on the first shipment suggests a deliberate strategy. Rather than seizing an empty tunnel, investigators let the operation begin so they could catch suspects in the act and build a stronger criminal case.
The drugs never made it to US streets. The tunnel, for now, is shut down.