Mexican authorities rescue six workers who were held captive by gang and forced to build a tunnel to smuggle drugs into the US
Six men were rescued from a home where they were held captive by members of a Mexican criminal organization that forced them to build a tunnel for smuggling drugs into the US.
The kidnapped workers were saved after one of the victims went up to a security forces convoy that had passed by the residence in the Mexicali neighborhood of Santa Clara on Monday, according to Mexican news outlet Jornada.
The home was just 100 yards from the international border line.
The kidnapped workers, identified as Juan, 60; Ramón, 54; Ricardo, 33; Eduardo, 31; and Daniel, 29, were led out of the property without incident.
The men were transferred to the custody of the Baja California state Attorney General’s Office.
A perimeter is set up outside a home in Mexicali, Mexico, near the United States border where six men were rescued Monday. The victims were held captive at the property where they had built a tunnel intended to be used to smuggle drugs
A criminal organization built a tunnel that connected a residence in Mexicali, Mexico, to the Grand Plaza Outlets in Calexico, California
Security forces found the secret underground passageway after Ramón gave them a tour of the property.
The tunnel, which went under construction at the beginning of the year, was located 52 feet below the ground surface and extended 262 feet out towards the Grand Plaza Outlets in the California border town of Calexico.
It's the first one discovered near the two international border cities, La Jornada reported.
The tunnel discovery comes after the Mexican military in May found a secret underground path which was still under construction in Tijuana, about 109 miles away from Mexicali. Soldiers spotted while were searching for a kidnapping victim.
The tunnel was located under a house across the street from a National Guard station, and just a few hundred feet up the road from the Otay Mesa Land Port of Entry with the United States.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, there are as many as 13,000 underground passageways in Mexico.