The Associated Press
MEXICO CITY- Federal police have arrested a customs official and three other men for digging a drug tunnel from the Mexican city of Tijuana into California, the Public Safety Department said Tuesday.
The official, identified as Ruben Contreras, 32, protected the other men while they dug the tunnel, the department said in a release. Another man, identified as Carlos Lopez, 27, oversaw the construction, while the two other men were paid US$20 (euro16) a night to dig, it said.
The tunnel was 25 meters (82 feet) long and one meter (3 feet) high. Mexican drug cartels often use tunnels to smuggle cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine.