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Tijuana Airport/Drug Super Tunnels

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Image 1: Drug tunnel corridors Tijuana airport/Otay Mesa

In 1989, the Sinaloa Cartel dug its first drug tunnel between a house in Agua Prieta, Sonora to a warehouse located in Douglas, Arizona. The 300 foot tunnel was discovered in May, 1990.[1][2] Following the discovery by U.S. Customs and Mexican Federal Police, the Sinaloa Cartel began to focus their smuggling operations towards Tijuana and Otay Mesa, San Diego where it acquired a warehouse in 1992. After the assassination of Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo and six others at the Guadalajara airport on May 24, 1993[3], the gunmen boarded a commercial jet. When the jet landed at the Tijuana airport, both police and military units failed to cordon of the aircraft and the gunmen escaped.[4] On May 31, 1993, Mexican federal agents searching for the gunmen found a partially completed 1500 foot tunnel adjacent to the Tijuana airport and crossing under the U.S.-Mexico border to a warehouse on Otay Mesa in San Diego. It was discovered as Mexican and San Diego officials were discussing the creation of a cross-border airport between Tijuana and Otay Mesa which would have undermined the drug tunneling operations in the area (see History of the Cross Border Xpress). The tunnel was described by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in San Diego as the “Taj Mahal” of drug tunnels along the U.S.-Mexico border and was linked to Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzmán.[5][6] It was five times longer than the Agua Prieta-Douglas tunnel and became the first of a series of drug "super tunnels" in Otay Mesa originating in and around the Tijuana airport through the former Ejido Tampico. The "super tunnels" were equipped with power, ventilation and rail tracks to allow the efficient movement of large loads of narcotics across the U.S.-Mexico border. As seen on image 1 Drug tunnel corridors the close proximity of the former Ejido Tampico to the Tijuana airport and U.S.-Mexico border made it an ideal staging area for smuggling operations into the United States.[7][8]

Image 2: Ejido Tampico comparison between 2000 and 2006

The Mexican government's conflict with the former Ejido Tampico dated back to 1970, when they expropriated 320 hectares (790 acres) of the Ejido Tampico to build a new runway and passenger terminal at the Tijuana airport and agreed to pay the displaced ejidatarios (the communal farmers) $1.4 million pesos ($112,000 U.S. dollars in 1970). When the Mexican government failed to indemnify the ejidatarios for their lost farmland, they reoccupied a 79 hectare (200 acre) portion of the Tijuana airport and threatened armed conflict. As shown by image 2 Ejido Tampico, from 1970 to 2000, the occupied land at the Tijuana airport remained relatively undeveloped. In 1999, the Tijuana airport was privatized and became part of a 12 airport network known as Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (Pacific Airport Group). In an attempt to resolve the dispute and remove the ejidatarios from the privatized Tijuana airport, the Mexican government established a value on the expropriated 320 hectares (790 acres) at $1.2 million pesos ($125,560 U.S. dollars in 1999) while the ejidatarios of the former Ejido Tampico taking into account the increase in property values from 1970 to 1999 and the privatization of the Tijuana airport established a commercial value on their lost land at $2.8 billion pesos ($294 million U.S. dollars). In 2002, Mexican President Vicente Fox, who had promised to resolved the issue, also failed.[9] As shown image 2 Ejido Tampico comparison between 2000 and 2006, the ejidatarios then proceeded to commercially develop the 79 hectare (200 acre) area at the Tijuana airport by leasing buildings and parcels to trucking and storage companies. As shown by image 3 Drug Trafficking Tunnel, in 2006 the unpermitted development allowed the building of a 2400-foot (732 meter) drug "super tunnel" originating from the former Ejido Tampico and adjacent to the Tijuana airport's runway.[10] As prior drug tunnels, it crossed under the U.S.-Mexico border into a warehouse on Otay Mesa in San Diego with the capacity to move multi-ton loads of narcotics.[11][12]

Image 3: Drug trafficking tunnel under the U.S.-Mexico border used by the Sinaloa Cartel from the Ejido Tampico

Similar to the "Taj Mahal" of drug tunnels discovered on Otay Mesa in 1993,[5] the 2006 drug "super tunnel" was traced back to the Sinaloa Cartel. With unregulated trucking and warehouse operations, the former Ejido Tampico became a major distribution point for narcotics being moved into the United States. In the ensuing years, drug tunnels moving tons of narcotics were detected in and around the Tijuana airport. The former Ejido Tampico also continued to expand its unpermitted development and more drug tunnels were discovered operating within its boundary to warehouses located on Otay Mesa in San Diego, California.[13][14][15][16][17] In 2011, at the westerly end of the Tijuana airport a 1800 foot (560 meters) drug "super tunnel" was discovered dug under the airport's 10/28 runway [18][19] from a warehouse located 980 feet (300 meters) from Mexico's 12th Military Air Base and 330 feet (100 meters) from a Mexican Federal Police station.[20] As with prior "super tunnels", it was equipped with an elevator and electric rail cars to efficiently ferry narcotics across the U.S.-Mexico border. In December 2016, one month prior Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán Loera's extradition to the U.S.[21], two "super tunnels", one in operation while the other was under construction, were discovered by Mexican agents adjacent to the Tijuana airport/Ejido Tampico and the Otay Mesa border crossing. Both were associated with the Sinaloa Cartel.[22][23]

  1. ^ "Chapo's rise: From poor, abused to cartel kingpin". USA Today. February 28, 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  2. ^ Reel, Monte (August 3, 2015). "Annals of Excavation: Underworld- How the Sinaloa Cartel digs its tunnels". The New Yorker. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  3. ^ Miller, Majorie (May 25, 1993). "Mexico Cardinal Slain; Caught in Gun Battle : Violence: 6 others are killed at Guadalajara airport. Rival narcotics traffickers are believed responsible". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  4. ^ Rotella, Sebastian (September 20, 1994). "2 San Diego Suspects in Cardinal's Slaying Ordered Extradited". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  5. ^ a b Rotella, Sebastian (June 19, 1993). "U.S. Seizes Land at Border Near Unfinished Drug Tunnel : Narcotics: Agents believe San Diego lot was the destination of passage from Mexico. Investigators are seeking a Tijuana businessman who owned the parcel". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  6. ^ Rotella, Sebastian (June 4, 1993). "DEA Couldn't Verify Tips on Drug Tunnel". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  7. ^ Mosendz, Polly (October 15, 2015). "DRUG TUNNELS ALONG THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER: HIGH COSTS, HIGH REWARDS". NEWSWEEK. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  8. ^ U-T San Diego (October 31, 2013). "Border tunnels: Complete list of those found". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  9. ^ Perez U., Matilde (June 17, 2002). "Ejidatarios exigen pago justo por tierra expropiada en BC- El aeropuerto internacional de Tijuana ocupa la superficie". La Jornada. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  10. ^ Public Affairs, DEA (January 26, 2006). "DEA/ICE Uncover "Massive" Cross-Border Drug Tunnel Cement lined passage thought to link warehouses in Tijuana and Otay Mesa". United States Drug Enforcement Administration. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  11. ^ Marosi, Richard (January 31, 2006). "A Straight Shot Into ... Mexico'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  12. ^ Soto, Onell; Berestein, Leslie (January 27, 2006). "2,400-foot tunnel 'beats them all'- Builders of passage were well-funded, investigators say". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  13. ^ Soto, Onell; Berestein, Leslie (January 27, 2006). "2,400-foot tunnel 'beats them all' -Builders of passage were well-funded, investigators say". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  14. ^ Newsroom, ICE (November 15, 2011). "Major cross-border drug tunnel discovered south of San Diego". Department of Homeland Security. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Retrieved 8 December 2015. {{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  15. ^ Castro, Rosario; Ramirez, Saul (July 13, 2012). "Quitan túneles y droga a la mafia en BC-Decomisan 40 toneladas de marihuana". ZETA Tijuana. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  16. ^ Marosi, Richard (October 22, 2015). "Raid on U.S.-Mexico drug tunnel: 22 arrests, at least 12 tons of pot seized". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  17. ^ Betanzos, Said (May 29, 2015). "Hallan Otro Narcotunel Cerca del Aeropuerto". El Mexicano. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  18. ^ "Second Major Cross-Border Drug Tunnel Discovered South of San Diego This Month- Investigators seize 32 tons of marijuana, arrest 6 suspects". United States Drug Enforcement Administration. November 30, 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  19. ^ Dibble, Sandra (November 30, 2011). "Elaborate drug tunnel yields record pot seizure- More than 32 tons recovered in the United States and Mexico". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  20. ^ "El túnel de México a EU para transportar droga tenía un elevador y rieles". CNN Mexico. November 30, 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  21. ^ McDonnell, Patrick; Linthicum, Kate; Wilber, Del Quentin (January 19, 2017). "Drug lord 'El Chapo' extradited to the U.S." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  22. ^ Woody, Christopher. "Mexican authorities busted 2 more cross-border tunnels possibly built by the Sinaloa cartel". BusinessInsider.com. Business Insider. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  23. ^ Bacon, John (December 14, 2016). "Sophisticated drug cartel tunnel from San Diego to Mexico found". USA Today. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
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