Secret cross-border tunnel under SoCal store linked to cartel cocaine flow

A 55-foot-deep, about 2,000-foot-long tunnel hidden beneath a Buy 4 Less in Otay Mesa, San Diego County, fitted with reinforced walls, a rail system, ventilation and electricity, was used by the Jalisco New Generation cartel to smuggle roughly $45 million worth of cocaine from Mexico to California. Homeland Security agents uncovered the passage after months of surveillance and seizures, exposing an elaborate cross-border operation; four men face conspiracy charges to import and distribute narcotics, with potential life sentences and up to $10 million fines. The tunnel can be accessed by a hydraulic lift, and authorities note this case demonstrates the ongoing danger of subterranean smuggling along the California border.