Agent finds pot-filled container with cross-border tunnel beneath

By Sandra Dibble and Anna Cearley

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS

December 4, 2007

TECATE – U.S. and Mexican authorities were investigating a drug tunnel found near the Tecate border crossing that leads from a shipping container filled with tightly wrapped bundles of marijuana.

An agent on routine patrol investigated the trailer-sized container in the corner of a private lot a few hundred yards from the U.S.-Mexico border when his dog picked up the scent of drugs. Peering inside, the agent saw someone with a semiautomatic weapon disappear down a hole inside the container.

Authorities had not found the other end of the tunnel as of yesterday evening. Its U.S. entrance measures about 3 feet by 3 feet, and it is reinforced with lumber, agents said.

“This tunnel is significantly sophisticated,” said Damon Foreman, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's San Diego sector. “It's not just a crawl tunnel where we can push drugs through.”