20 tons of pot was confiscated by Federal Authorities in California yesterday. More than 20 tons of pot was smuggled through a tunnel that ran from Mexico to San Diego by drug cartels. One would wonder if this pot was in preparation for the after party of the legalization of marijuana in California. The problem was the legalization of marijuana vote was smashed down by the voters of California in the Tuesday elections. The young people who are more likely to use pot never showed up to vote. This confiscation is likely just a coincidence.
The 20 tons of pot were found near a tunnel than ran from San Diego to the Tijuana border. Mexican authorities seized nearly 4 tons of pot from their side of the border. This was a huge drug cartel operation; the pot has a street value of over twenty million dollars. This is one of the largest marijuana seizures in US history. There were warehouses on both sides of the border filled with marijuana which was wrapped for sale on the streets of San Diego.
Federal Authorities had the warehouse under surveillance for twelve hours. They saw a rig load up at the warehouse in San Diego and authorities followed it. The Federal Authorities alerted police who stopped the truck and found ten tons of marijuana inside the rig. The driver and his wife were arrested on the spot and sent to jail. They will be arraigned on drug charges Thursday morning in a San Diego court. Federal Authorities obtained a search warrant to search the warehouse and found the pot wrapped for sale on the streets of San Diego.
After further investigation, Federal Authorities found the opening to the tunnel that led to Tijuana, Mexico. The tunnel was set up perfectly for the drug cartel to send marijuana to the United States. The tunnel was lighted, ventilated and had rail cars to carry the pot from Mexico to the United States. The tunnel was not tall enough for a normal size man to stand up in it. This was the largest pot seizure in California history.
Mexican and US Federal Authorities cooperated fully to seize the huge amounts of pot. This is why the operation ran quickly and smoothly. A week earlier, Mexican authorities confiscated 134 tons of marijuana believed to belong to a powerful cartel called the Sinaloa.
Mexico has been sending drugs and illegal aliens across the US border for many years. Yesterday, Federal Authorities (with the cooperation of Mexican Authorities) took a huge chunk out of the drug cartels profits. In a week, Mexico and the US have confiscated over 150 tons of pot from Mexican drug cartels. 20 pounds of pot were confiscated by Federal Authorities yesterday in California. The question we must ask ourselves is; did we finally taking a chunk out of drug cartels and their products? Or is this just a little piece of the pie?
Sources
Policeone.com
Tampa Bay Times
Radio news