U.S. and Mexico officials have discovered a nearly 1,800-foot tunnel across the border used to smuggle drugs.

The tunnel began at a home in Tijuana, Mexico, and traveled across the border to a warehouse in Otay Mesa, California, according to the Justice Department. The tunnel was 1,744 feet long, 61 feet deep, and 4 feet in diameter with reinforced walls, a rail system, electricity, and ventilation.

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“There is no more light at the end of this narco-tunnel,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said in a Monday press statement. “We will take down every subterranean smuggling route we find to keep illicit drugs from reaching our streets and destroying our families and communities.”

The tunnel was discovered after midnight on Friday by law enforcement officers who were conducting surveillance on a home in National City that was previously used as a stash house for drug smuggling, according to the DOJ. The officials followed Vanessa Ramirez and Luz de Luna Olmos from the home to a store where they bought supplies, including tools and boxes, the press release said. They then drove to the warehouse, located 300 feet from the U.S.-Mexico border, officials added.

Seen clockwise from bottom left: a San Diego highway exit sign and photos from the Justice Department of multiple parts of a border tunnel connecting the California city to Tijuana, Mexico.
Seen clockwise from bottom left: a San Diego highway exit sign and photos from the Justice Department of multiple parts of a border tunnel connecting the California city to Tijuana, Mexico. (iStock; Images courtesy of the Justice Department)

Officials observed at least five cars come and go from the house, the warehouse, or both, the statement continued. The drivers were eventually stopped by law enforcement, and drugs were seized from the vehicles, officials said. Law enforcement discovered the tunnel upon further investigation, which connected the house and warehouse.

Authorities seized 1,762 pounds of cocaine,164 pounds of methamphetamine, and 3.5 pounds of heroin, according to officials. The total drugs were valued at $25 million, Juan Munoz, special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations San Diego, told NBC 7 San Diego.

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Officials arrested six alleged traffickers and charged them with conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Olmos and Ramirez face additional charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy to distribute heroin. If convicted, they face life behind bars and millions of dollars in fines.

Drug sales have risen in the last year, and a record 107,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2021, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.