Catching Cartels: Cracking Down on Smuggling Tunnels | Bradley on the Border

About this episode

The episode discusses the discovery of a sophisticated smuggling tunnel between Tijuana and San Diego and features an interview with cartel specialist Robert Almonte.

An elaborate cross-border underground tunnel running from Tijuana to San Diego, and believed to be used to move cocaine and other contraband between Mexico and the United States, has been discovered by federal investigators. Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office say the passageway wasn’t a dirt tunnel, but a well-lit passageway equipped with a ventilation system and an electronic rail track capable of moving cargo over the border. Officials say that the tunnel may be an underground smuggling superhighway used by one of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels to easily move massive amounts of illicit drugs and possibly humans and weapons across the southern border illegally. In this episode of "Bradley on the Border," Ali Bradley sits down with Robert Almonte, a former U.S. marshal and cartel specialist. He tells Bradley that the use of tunnels by Mexican drug cartels is nothing new and is just another way that those criminal organizations are working to remain one step ahead of federal law enforcement. “No matter what we do on the border, the Mexican cartels are not going away and that’s why we need to stay on their heels and not let them catch their breath,” Almonte…

People in this episode

Host: Ali Bradley

Guest: Robert Almonte

Topics covered

• smuggling tunnels
• drug cartels
• law enforcement
• cross-border crime
• tunnel detection

Keywords

• smuggling
• tunnels
• drug cartels
• law enforcement
• cross-border crime
• Robert Almonte
• Ali Bradley

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: U.S. Attorney’s Office

Places: Mexico, United States, Tijuana, San Diego

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