Tunnel linking US and Mexico found

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

31 October 2013 Last updated at 21:16 GMT

Tunnel linking US and Mexico found

A drug-smuggling tunnel equipped with electricity, ventilation and a rail system has been found connecting San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico.

Authorities seized more than eight tons of marijuana and 325lb (147kg) of cocaine in the discovery.

Officials have not revealed the exact length or location of the recently finished tunnel, but Mexican media report it is near Tijuana's airport.

More than 75 such secret tunnels have been discovered since 2008.

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Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24760728

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Yup, what is local news doing on GD though?

And i mean hyper-local? Oh wait, BBC picked on it. My bad.

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. not necessarily a local story.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Oh very much local

Sorry, I am beyond jaded.

[pintobean]

23. It's international news.

To claim anything else is ridiculous. It's nothing like a local traffic report.

[Go Vols]

32. I thought it a story

of a 40+ year war on drugs that we all pay for.

[sad-cafe]

37. exactly. It is international

nothing like a fire/wreck on a specific freeway

I found the article fascinating.

[Matariki]

33. A tunnel into the US from a foreign country?

That's a bit more than a local story.

Curious, how does your being jaded affect your perception of this being local vs. of greater interest?

[nadinbrzezinski]

36. If I posted it

Last edited Fri Nov 1, 2013, 04:38 PM - Edit history (1)

From local sources, I will get bullied. It is the hypocrisy.

If this city falls into the pacific, this county burns (again) or a few other things, DU can look for it on CNN.

By the way, I am actually surprised it made it to the BBC. These tunnels are quite regular.

I should add, I still get bullied

So this emphasized the point even further. Bullies will find a new target. That's the way of the bully.

[sad-cafe]

39. you do not get bullied

you have thin-skin when someone points out that you are incorrect on your posts.

Bullying is calling you names, wishing you to die in a variety of ways. That would NOT be tolerated on this site.

Bullying is not pointing out your mostly wrong commentary that you choose to deliver in an "I am better than you" attitude.

[Brother Buzz]

9. BBC scooped East County Magazine?

Not one peep on the tunnel, yet the local online magazine had a story on road stripping and a strange one on ghost hunting titled: HAUNTINGS IN EL CAJON? PARANORMAL PROJECT TEAMS UP TO INVESTIGATE.

Oh, congrats on your San Diego Press Club "Excellence in Journalism Award". Second place TWO years in a row.

Intern Sierra Robinson, along with Nadin Abbott and Raftery teamed up to win second place for their series on wind issues: Supervisors blow off residents’ concerns over wind ordinance; Supervisors approve wind ordinance, blow off residents’ concerns, After turbulent hearing, Supervisors postpone action on wind ordinance; East County residents ask County’s top health official to revise report, recognize serious health impacts from wind turbines; and Valley Fever epidemic linked to desert solar construction, heightens concerns over risks from large-scale wind and solar projects

[SidDithers]

17. Holy crap. They won an award for their coverage of wind turbines?...

You can't make this shit up.

Sid

[Brother Buzz]

21. To their credit, they dropped the 'causes cancer' nonsense and focused on the fire dangers

and never mind they had to scour the wires to find a story that fit their 'new and improved' dialog to highlights the hazards associated with fires caused by wind turbines.

DUAL DEATHS IN WIND TURBINE FIRE HIGHLIGHT HAZARDS

Could Vestas' fire-prone turbines be installed in East County?

By Miriam Raftery

October 31, 2013 (Netherlands) – Two young mechanics, ages 19 and 21, died when a fire broke out in a wind turbine where they were performing routine maintenance. The tragedy occurred at Deltawind’s Piet de Wit wind farm in the Netherlands, but highlights the hazards associated with fires caused by wind turbines.

<more>

http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/14273

[treestar]

22. lol

BBC needs an intern just to watch the ECM.

[SidDithers]

15. Right. Because a a story about a drug tunnel between 2 countries...

is almost exactly the same type of story as a traffic report.



Sid

[NCTraveler]

28. How in the world is this local.

A tunnel between Mexico and the US. Bringing in drugs that will be disbursed to people all over. Where do you think this is local to? Mexico? LA?

[maddezmom]

30. What is hyper-local?

[Xipe Totec]

2. The invisible hand of the black market. nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Indeed

[Cleita]

6. Huh! Just like in "Weeds".

Does the tunnel also end up in a shop for maternity clothes?

Actually, that's been known for awhile.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Not quite

[kelliekat44]

7. "The Bridge" nt

[petronius]

10. Interesting - that's a big investment of time and money, and

a lot of drugs to lose in one place. I wonder how long one of these has to operate in order to break even, and if this one turned out to be worth the investment.

I also wonder about the laborers who did the digging - once it's done, do they get to walk away knowing the secret?

[Demo_Chris]

11. Great questions, not sure I want to know the answers :(

[Brother Buzz]

12. That's chump change for a drug cartel

Walk away? They have gainful employment for the foreseeable future digging a lot of tunnels. And never mind the rumors the workers are subjected to forced labor.

[dipsydoodle]

13. U.S.-Mexico drug-smuggling tunnel closed in California

(Reuters) - U.S. authorities have shut down a secret underground tunnel equipped with electricity, ventilation and a rail system for smuggling drugs between a San Diego industrial park and Tijuana, Mexico, officials said on Thursday.

Border control and drug enforcement agents seized more than 17,000 pounds (7,700 kilograms) of marijuana and 325 pounds (147 kg) of cocaine from the tunnel, a rented warehouse where the passageway ended on the U.S. side and arrested three men arrested in a night raid on Wednesday.

The bust marked the first time cocaine has been found in connection with more than 75 cross-border smuggling tunnels that have been uncovered since 2008 along the Southwest border between the United States and Mexico, officials said.

Tunnels discovered earlier were used mainly for marijuana, which because of its bulk is harder to smuggle inside cars and trucks, said William Sherman, Drug Enforcement Administration special agent in charge in San Diego.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/11/01/uk-usa-drugs-tunnel-idUKBRE9A002G20131101

[zappaman]

14. Crazy story.

Cool that it has gone worldwide.

[Comrade Grumpy]

16. Maybe they can hire those guys to build the California high-speed train.

[MineralMan]

18. It's amazing that such a tunnel can be built without

anyone noticing the construction. There's earth, rock & debris that gets removed and taken somewhere to be dumped. That doesn't happen without some above-ground activity, I'd think.

I'm guessing that payoffs are being made for people "not to notice."

Always interesting, the black market is.

[kentauros]

25. Set up a fake company of, say, a gravel pit and road construction materials

on the Mexican side, and who would notice or care if there's a little more being excavated than possible for the size of the pit?

[MineralMan]

27. I suppose so.

Still, with all of the concern about the border areas, you'd think people would get hinky about it.

[kentauros]

29. I don't know what the terrain is like in the area of the tunnel,

and that would also factor into it. If the border patrol is looking well into Mexico territory in addition to right on the border, then they might have noticed. If not, there are any number of ways to get rid of bore material if they're imaginative.

[markpkessinger]

34. In the video clip at the linked article . . .

. . . it says that the tunnel links two warehouses. Depending on how big the warehouses are, there may have been a lot of room to store excavated earth, and then to have it carried away sowly enough so as not to attract attention.

[MineralMan]

35. Ah, that would explain it.

They could haul the dirt out of the warehouse for dumping, too. Got it! Looking at the Google satellite view of the border area shows a bunch of warehouses on both sides, right up against the border. Easy peasy.

[Coyotl]

19. Legalize weed and put a stop to the export of money.

[zappaman]

20. Eggs zactly.

[datasuspect]

24. at least the cartels are providing jobs

and creating infrastructure

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

26. On the positive side...

Good to see that somebody is investing in infrastructure...

[zappaman]

31. !!!

[davidpdx]

38. Can you imagine what they are going to have to do to get rid of the tunnel?

Pump cement into it and fill it until it is solid.

[nadinbrzezinski]

40. What they have done with the rest of them.

Likely collapse it.

It is not like this is the first.

[davidpdx]

41. You mean purposefully cave it in?

This actually the first time I've heard about it, but the story mentioned others. The North Koreans tried to dig tunnels under the DMZ in the 60's and 70's. I've been down in one on the South Korean side.

[nadinbrzezinski]

42. Yup, this is the tunnel of the month

We have had 75 of these critters since 2008.

[davidpdx]

43. Thanks for the sources

Interesting stuff...

[nadinbrzezinski]

44. Oh you welcome