Video shows massive drug-smuggling tunnel connecting U.S. and Mexico

Four people have been arrested and charged with trafficking more than $45 million in cocaine through an elaborate 2,000-foot-long tunnel between border cities in Mexico and California, complete with electricity, reinforced walls, ventilation and a rail system, according to federal officials. The tunnel was discovered as part of a monthslong investigation into a warehouse for a supposed discount store, Buy 4 Less, located near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in San Diego, right across the border from Tijuana, Mexico, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. By the end of the operation, more than a ton of cocaine and the sophisticated tunnel underneath the store were found, officials said. "For these defendants, it wasn't a light at the end of the tunnel. It was lights and sirens," U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a statement. A stairway of a cross-border drug tunnel between U.S. and Mexico, in this handout image released June 1, 2026, with location given as between Otay Mesa, California, U.S., and Tijuana, Mexico. US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California/Handout via REUTERS The U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Tunnel Task Force began surveilling the purported Buy 4 Less store in December 2025 when, federal officials said, a new group of apparent employees was seen in and around the store. …