Marijuana Blog

Federal authorities in San Diego and their Mexican Partners have seized and confiscated nearly 30 tons of marijuana from an underground tunnel system that connects between warehouses from Mexico to San Diego. U.S. authorities claim that this is one of the largest pot busts in US history. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton said the bricks of marijuana were packaged for distribution and would have been worth roughly $20 million if sold on the streets of San Diego.

The Drug Enforcement Administration said the 12 hour operation started Tuesday night when U.S. authorities watching a warehouse followed a tractor trailer as it left the building. ICE agents called in the California Highway Patrol, whose officers stopped the rig near Temecula, California, about 60 miles away. Authorities said they had found 10 tons of marijuana inside the tractor-trailer. The driver, a U.S. citizen and the passenger his Mexican wife, were arrested and will be arraigned in San Diego on Thursday.

Authorities quickly obtained a federal search warrant to enter the warehouse, where they discovered 10 to 15 more tons of marijuana. They also found the opening to the tunnel system that was being used to run the drugs over the border. The length of the tunnel ran the length of six football fields under the border and ended at a warehouse in Mexico. The tunnel had lighting, ventilation and a rail system which has led authorities to believe that this is in fact one of the most organized smuggling systems they have come across in some time.