Four charged over cocaine tunnel beneath San Diego store

Federal prosecutors have charged four people with trafficking more than a ton of cocaine through a sophisticated cross-border tunnel hidden beneath a fake discount store in San Diego, authorities said.

The tunnel, which officials said linked the Otay Mesa area of San Diego with Tijuana, Mexico, was discovered after a monthslong investigation into a shop called Buy 4 Less near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. Prosecutors said the store appeared to serve as a front for moving cocaine for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

The defendants — Gregorio Epifanio Hernandez Lopez, 29, and Jose Jimenez, 32, both of San Diego, and Antonio Cortez, 18, and Brandon Escalante Sandoval, 26, both of Mexico — were charged with distribution of a controlled substance. The Guardian reported that they were charged with conspiring to traffic drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Hernandez Lopez also faces charges of constructing, financing or using unauthorized tunnels and importation of a controlled substance, according to federal officials.

All four face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Homeland Security Investigations agents began watching the Buy 4 Less location in December, according to a federal criminal complaint. Investigators said activity at the business “did not appear to be consistent with a normal retail location,” noting minimal customer traffic. Agents also saw several men enter and leave carrying suitcases that often appeared empty. At times, officials said, the men took the suitcases across the border into Tijuana by car or on foot.

The investigation culminated May 29, when agents saw large, heavy items being loaded into a white van at the store, according to the Justice Department. Officials said the van left the location and parked nearby before a man on a bicycle rode up, retrieved a key from a hidden spot near the gas cap and drove the van back-to-back with another van.

A large truck then pulled up, and deep freezers filled with packages were transferred between vehicles, prosecutors said. San Diego County sheriff’s deputies stopped the truck, and drug-sniffing dogs alerted to the packages, according to The Guardian. Authorities also stopped two other vehicles connected to the operation.

Federal officials said they seized more than 2,269 pounds of cocaine from the three vehicles. The Guardian, citing the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of California, reported the total as more than 2,250 pounds. CBS News reported the drugs were valued at more than $45 million.

After the arrests, agents obtained a warrant to search Buy 4 Less and found the tunnel’s exit concealed beneath the floor of a storage room, officials said. The passage was as deep as 55 feet, ran more than 1,000 feet to the U.S.-Mexico border and continued more than 800 feet into Mexico, according to the Justice Department. The Guardian reported that the tunnel was accessed using a sophisticated hydraulic lift.

Authorities described the tunnel as roughly 4.5 feet tall and equipped with reinforced walls, electricity, ventilation and a rail-and-cart system.

“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.

Kevin Murphy, acting special agent in charge for HSI San Diego, said the seizure dealt a significant blow to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

“The discovery and dismantlement of this sophisticated cross-border tunnel, along with the seizure of more than a ton of cocaine, underscore the commitment and collaboration of Homeland Security Investigations and our Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) partners,” Murphy said.

The Guardian reported that it was the first cross-border tunnel found in Southern California since 2022. Authorities have found 99 such tunnels since 1993, including 28 considered sophisticated, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.