U.S. SEIZES 25 TONS OF POT IN SAN DIEGO

Federal authorities seized 25 tons of marijuana and discovered an
1,800-foot-long tunnel for smugglers that led from Mexico to a
warehouse in San Diego.

The discovery was the latest example of the often-extreme methods used
by Mexican cartels to smuggle drugs past the phalanx of law
enforcement in the San Diego border area.

In this case, authorities followed a tractor trailer after it left the
San Diego warehouse Tuesday night and stopped it at a nearby
checkpoint in Temecula. On board, they found roughly 10 tons of dope
and arrested a man and a woman inside the vehicle.

Federal agents then obtained a search warrant and raided the
warehouse, where they found an additional 15 tons of marijuana inside,
stacked on pallets.

Searching the warehouse, they also found the entrance to a tunnel that
was dug roughly 20 feet underground and equipped with lighting and a
ventilation system. The tunnel was about four feet high by three feet
wide.

U.S. Officials, who continued their investigation Thursday, said it
was likely the tunnel had been in operation about a month.

The tunnel straddled the U.S. border with Mexico, where it ended below
another warehouse. Acting on a tip from U.S. agents, Mexican
authorities raided that building and seized an additional five tons of
marijuana.

No one was arrested during the building raids. U.S. authorities said
that the street value of the marijuana totaled more than $20 million.

"I can promise you there are some very unhappy people in the cartel,"
said John Morton, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, in a statement. "This discovery again shows their growing
desperation in the face of heightened border security."

Federal agents in recent years have found a handful of drug and human
smuggling tunnels in the San Diego area-typically before the tunnels
were fully operational.