CALEXICO, Calif., March 24 (UPI) -- Federal investigators uncovered a 415-yard tunnel under a newly constructed home in southern California leading to a restaurant in Mexico, marking the first time alleged drug traffickers purchased U.S. property solely to conceal an underground smuggling passageway.
Four people were arrested after the tunnel was discovered underneath a three-bedroom home that sits about 300 yards from the border. The other end of the tunnel was inside a restaurant in Mexicali, Mexico. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said investigators seized thousands of pounds of marijuana with a street value of about $6 million.