Border Patrol Finds 3,000-Foot ‘Drug Tunnel’ Near San Diego
U.S. Border Patrol agents have uncovered yet another example of the ruthless sophistication driving Mexico’s cartel operations, shutting down a massive drug-smuggling tunnel that stretched nearly 3,000 feet from a residential neighborhood in Tijuana into Otay Mesa, California—just outside San Diego.
According to federal officials, the subterranean passage was discovered in April and had already reached an advanced stage of construction. Built with the kind of precision that only a well-funded cartel operation could engineer, the tunnel featured full electrical wiring, lighting, a ventilation network, and even a rail system intended to move narcotics swiftly into the United States. Investigators believe the Sinaloa Cartel—long associated with Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán—was behind the operation.
Though El Chapo now spends his life sentence inside a maximum-security Colorado prison, the cartel continues to exert enormous power throughout Mexico and along the U.S. border, a reminder of how deeply entrenched the criminal empire remains despite decades of prosecutions.
Agents described the tunnel as roughly 42 inches tall, 28 inches wide, and plunging nearly 50 feet underground. Mexican authorities located the entrance concealed beneath newly installed tile flooring in a home in Nueva Tijuana—a tactic cartels have used in the past to evade detection.
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The discovery comes at a time when border enforcement has sharply tightened under President Donald Trump’s renewed security agenda. With illegal crossings dropping in multiple sectors, law enforcement leaders say cooperation across agencies has been essential. Jeffrey Stalnaker, the acting chief patrol agent in San Diego, praised the team responsible for exposing the tunnel.
“Stopping drug tunnels like this is vital to keeping Americans safe,” he said. “I’m proud of our team and the help we got from Mexican police.”
Since 1993, authorities in the San Diego region have discovered more than 95 cross-border tunnels. Like previous ones, this new tunnel will be sealed with concrete to prevent future use.
A similar smuggling corridor was found in El Paso in January, running from Ciudad Juárez into the city’s storm drain system. Officials revealed that the passage had already facilitated human smuggling, with migrants reportedly paying up to $20,000 for illegal entry. That tunnel, too, was built with lighting, ventilation, and reinforced supports—evidence that cartels remain committed to exploiting weaknesses in border infrastructure wherever they can.
President Trump made restoring order at the southern border a central pillar of his 2024 campaign, vowing to reverse former President Joe Biden’s “open border” catastrophe and implement the largest deportation operation in American history. His administration has moved aggressively on that promise.
Shortly after Trump’s victory last November, thousands of retired law enforcement officers and military veterans volunteered to join the effort to track down and remove illegal immigrants, according to then-incoming border czar Thomas Homan in an interview with “Fox & Friends.”
“I shut my phone off Friday night because I couldn’t handle the phone calls, and texts and emails from thousands of ICE agents and border patrol agents excited about the rumor I’m coming back,” Homan said.
“But more important than that, thousands of retired agents, retired Border Patrol agents, retired military [want] to come in and volunteer to help this president secure the border and do the deportation operation,” he added.
Speaking later with Donald Trump Jr. on the “Triggered” podcast via Rumble, Homan previewed what he said would be dramatic action from the administration on day one.
“I got three words for them – shock and awe,” Homan said when asked what Americans should expect.
“You’re going to see us take this country back, and, look, like I said before, it isn’t just about the deportation operation. This is about saving the children and about securing the border. What’s the results? Less overdose deaths, less sex trafficking, for God’s sake, one of the worst crimes around, less migrants dying,” he continued.
The discovery of the latest cross-border tunnel highlights exactly why the administration’s renewed enforcement posture remains essential: cartels, traffickers, and smugglers are relentless—and America’s security depends on being just as relentless in return.