New video from the Department of Defense shows the inside of a 1,800-foot tunnel connecting a home in Tijuana, Mexico, to a warehouse in Otay Mesa in south San Diego.
The video gives viewers a first-hand look at the sophisticated tunnel systems -- which include ventilation, lighting and even a rail and hydraulic system -- used to move drugs between the U.S. and Mexico, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The tunnel led to an opening carved into concrete inside a warehouse 300 feet north of the U.S.-Mexico border in Otay Mesa south of downtown San Diego, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. It was used to smuggle illicit drugs like cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine between the two countries, though the agency didn't specify how long it was believed to have been in operation.
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Six people have been indicted on charges of conspiracy to distribute drugs in the United States in connection with the tunnel's discovery on the Mexico side on May 14 and on the U.S. side on May 15.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said they were conducting surveillance on a National City home believed to be a "stash house" when two defendants left for a store in Chula Vista and retrieved large cardboard boxes from a dumpster. In the hours that followed, investigators saw several vehicles transporting items between the home and the warehouse in Otay Mesa, a federal complaint said. When the vehicles were stopped, drugs were found inside.
The defendants are Mario Jaramillo of Huntington Beach; Adrian Enriquez of Perris, Calif.; Juan Cruz of San Ysidro; and Vanessa Ramirez, Luz de Luna Olmos and Manuel Perez of San Diego.
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More than 1,700 pounds of cocaine, 164 pounds of meth and 3.5 pounds of heroin were seized from the warehouse, where an exit point was carved out of the cement floor, Homeland Security Investigations San Diego (HSI) special agent in charge Juan Munoz said. The drugs had an estimated street value of $25 million.
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