Four charged with smuggling 1 ton of cocaine through 1,933-foot cross-border tunnel

SAN DIEGO — Four people face federal conspiracy charges after investigators discovered a 1,933-foot tunnel that ran beneath the U.S.-Mexico border from Tijuana directly into a purported retail store called Buy 4 Less in Otay Mesa, according to a June 1, 2026 announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

The subterranean passageway measured 55 feet deep and 4.5 feet high. It featured reinforced walls, a rail system, ventilation, and electricity, per the Department of Justice release. Agents seized more than one ton of cocaine with an estimated street value of $45 million.

The charges target defendants who allegedly used the tunnel to move the narcotics from Mexico into the United States for distribution. The case originated from a monthslong Homeland Security Investigations task force probe focused on the Otay Mesa store near the port of entry.

All four defendants are charged with conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, which carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years and a maximum of life.

The tunnel’s discovery removes a major piece of infrastructure relied upon by the trafficking organization. Prior to its seizure, the passageway allowed kilogram quantities of cocaine to bypass border inspection entirely. Its closure forces any remaining network members to seek new smuggling methods that face higher interdiction risk at legal ports of entry or other clandestine routes.

Federal sentencing guidelines now require judges in the Southern District of California to impose at least the 10-year minimum on each defendant upon conviction, absent substantial assistance or other departures. The case also obliges the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations to map and dismantle any connected distribution cells inside the United States that received the smuggled cocaine.

This marks the latest in a series of cross-border tunnel discoveries along the California-Mexico border. Similar sophisticated tunnels equipped with rail and ventilation have been found in Otay Mesa and San Diego counties in prior years, each tied to Mexican cartels moving multi-ton cocaine and fentanyl loads.

The June 1 charging document is the public culmination of the task force’s investigation that began months earlier.