£15m drugs haul found in tunnel between US and Mexico

A drug-smuggling tunnel nearly half a mile long and with nine tons of cocaine and marijuana stashed inside has been uncovered in California.

The haul, worth £15 million, was seized by federal agents, who believe the 874-yard tunnel is the longest ever found between the US state and Mexico.

The underground route begins in the closet of a house in Tijuana, Mexico, and ends 500 yards across the border at a property advertised as a wooden pallet business in San Diego.

It is the 13th sophisticated secret passage found on the Californian section of the border since 2006, including three on one San Diego street next to a frontier fence with a densely populated residential area on the Mexican side.

The unusually narrow tunnel was only about 3ft wide and equipped with a rail system, lighting and ventilation.

The drugs were smuggled from the Tijuana house using an elevator big enough for 10 people in the closet.

The tunnel zig-zagged to the fenced commercial lot in San Diego, where the exit was covered by a large trash bin. US Attorney Laura Duffy said: “Few would suspect traffickers were moving multi-ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana worth tens of millions of dollars through this rabbit hole in the ground.”

Six people were arrested in San Diego and charged with drug trafficking.

Investigators began to monitor the property after border patrol agents saw heavy traffic and grew suspicious.

Border Protection air operations boss Hunter Davis said: “This case is a strong reminder of the vulnerabilities that exist along the south-west border.”