US border officials find 4,309-foot-long tunnel from Mexico to California

Border Patrol agents in California say a cross-border tunnel that stretched thousands of feet from Tijuana, Mexico, into the United States is the longest one ever found on the southern border and was likely used to smuggle drugs into the country.

U.S. officials on Wednesday announced the discovery of more than a mile-and-a-half of underground hallways that secretly connected both countries. The entrance on the Mexican side to the tunnel originated in an industrial area, close to the Otay Mesa Port of Entry border crossing, which is south of San Diego, California. It stretched three-quarters of a mile, or 4,309 feet, to the United States, and the U.S. entrance was concealed near the set of warehouses near that same large border crossing checkpoint. It had an additional 3,529-foot tunnel offshoot that also went under the border and into the U.S. but did not have an opening on the U.S. side.

The longest tunnel on record until now was discovered in San Diego in 2014 and was just under 3,000 feet long.

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