This Drug Tunnel Connecting Mexico And The US Is The Longest Ever Discovered

Federal agents discovered a half-mile-long underground tunnel used to traffic drugs from Mexico to California.

Measuring about 2,610 feet in length, the tunnel begins under a house in Tijuana and ends at a fenced-in lot in Otay Mesa, San Diego, Reuters reports.

The hole where the tunnel emerges was covered by a dumpster the size of a trailer, which smugglers used to transport drugs out of the area.

Authorities called the tunnel, which is 46 feet below the ground, the longest ever unearthed from Mexico to California. Within the tunnel was a rail system, several stairwells and an elevator that can fit up to 10 people.

According to FOX News, the fenced-in lot was advertised as a wood pallet business and was under surveillance for months after a border agent flagged it as suspicious last year.

On Friday, federal agents followed a truck transporting the trailer-sized dumpster to a location in San Diego about 25 miles north of the border. The dumpster was loaded onto a truck, which was then stopped by San Diego County sheriff's deputies who found 2,242 pounds of cocaine and 11,030 pounds of marijuana on board.

A search of the tunnel and dumpster revealed an additional 3,000 pounds of marijuana.

The deputies arrested three men when they busted the truck and three more while searching the tunnel, all of whom have been jailed on charges related to drug trafficking.

Friday's discovery marks the 13th secret passage found connecting California's border with Mexico since 2006. Another tunnel, this one measuring 140 feet long, was found just two days before when a border agent nearly fell into it in Calexico, California.

Citations: Remarkable GoPro footage reveals depths of huge 2600ft drug tunnel packed with 26million in marijuana and cocaine as well as its own rail system and elevator on Mexican border (Daily Mail), Border patrol agent explores newly discovered USMexico drug tunnel with GoPro camera (FOX News), USborder agents seize longest MexicoCalifornia drug tunnel yet (Reuters)