Chinese migrants lead US agents to San Diego border tunnel
Dozens of migrants fleeing from Border Patrol agents led authorities to a surprising discovery over the weekend: A tunnel under the US-Mexico border in San Diego used to bring Chinese nationals illegally into the United States.
Drug cartels have built hundreds of tunnels to move drugs into California.
But it’s unusual to find such a large group of foreigners, especially from as far away as China, come out of an illegal border tunnel, Border Patrol agent Eduardo Olmos said. Agents detained 23 Chinese nationals and seven Mexicans.
“To say the least, this is definitely a significant event because of the amount of people, ” Olmos said.
Agents first spotted a large group of men and women on a San Diego street near the Otay Mesa border crossing at about 1 a.m. on Saturday.
When agents headed toward them, the migrants ran toward a hole in the ground near a border fence. The hole was covered with a few branches and a wooden ladder led down to an underground passageway to Mexico.
Olmos said he did not know the tunnel’s length or dimensions. Agents captured 30 migrants, he said, but he did not know how many of those detained were grabbed while getting into the hole or whether any of them made it back into the tunnel and returned to Mexico.
Cartels have been sneaking drugs under the border for decades, especially after security was increased following the 9/11 attacks.
