What Authorities Found Beneath This Store Led Straight To The Cartels

Federal authorities busted a massive cross-border drug tunnel leading to a fake California storefront that investigators say was used to move cocaine into the United States.

The tunnel, which stretched 1,933 feet from Tijuana, Mexico, to Otay Mesa, California, near the border port of entry, was 55 feet deep and 4.5 feet high, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of California. The covert passageway led to a purported store called “Buy 4 Less” and was outfitted with reinforced walls, rail and ventilation systems, and electricity.

Authorities seized more than a ton of cocaine with an estimated value of $45 million during the operation, according to the Justice Department.

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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the bust shows the Trump administration’s “unwavering commitment to dismantling cartels, stop the flow of dangerous drugs into our communities, and keep American families safe.”

The Justice Department charged four individuals with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances as part of the investigation. One of the accused was also hit with charges of conspiracy to use a cross-border tunnel and conspiracy to import controlled substances.

Homeland Security Investigations agents began conducting surveillance on the Buy 4 Less warehouse starting in December 2025 after observing “suspicious activity there,” according to the Justice Department.

Yesterday, following a months-long investigation by the Homeland Security Task Force, authorities discovered a sophisticated cross-border tunnel connecting Tijuana, Mexico, to a building posing as a retail store in Otay Mesa, California, near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.

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— Acting AG Todd Blanche (@DAGToddBlanche) June 2, 2026

Agents observed Gregorio Epifanio Hernandez Lopez and other store employees transporting large numbers of suitcases between the storefront and into vehicles or walking suitcases across the border into Mexico, the Justice Department said. The suitcases appeared to be empty, so agents didn’t act on them.

Agents then watched on May 29 as a man loaded three large, heavy objects into a white van that drove away from the store and parked near a mechanic’s shop. One of the accused, Brandon Escalante Sandoval, was allegedly conducting counter-surveillance nearby on his bicycle.

Escalante allegedly later went up to the van, removed the key hidden in the gas cap, got in, and began reversing it toward the rear of another van.

Both vans had their rear doors open to one another as people removed three deep freezers from one of the vehicles, then placed them in the bed of a truck and stuffed the truck with packages.

The loaded truck then drove away and parked nearby. Agents said they watched Escalante exit the truck, jump on his bike, throw the keys under the truck, and leave the area.

Jose Jimenez grabbed the keys and drove away in the truck before sheriff’s deputies stopped him. The deputies’ K9 police dog alerted them to the presence of illicit drugs.

Agents later observed two men carrying heavy boxes out of the Buy 4 Less and into another truck. Hernandez then sped off in the truck before he was stopped by sheriff’s deputies, whose K9 again alerted them to the existence of controlled substances.

Deputies also stopped the second van and identified Antonio Cortez as the driver, when a police dog again alerted them to the presence of drugs.

In total, authorities seized more than 2,269 pounds of cocaine — or more than 1 ton, according to the Justice Department.

Authorities in southern California have discovered 99 cross-border tunnels since 1993, the most recent in 2022.

Following the drug seizure on May 29, a federal judge signed warrants authorizing the searches of the fake storefront and the mechanic shop. Agents found the tunnel exit hidden under the floor of a storage room during their search of the Buy 4 Less property.