Four men have been charged after a Homeland Security Task Force investigation discovered a sophisticated cross-border tunnel used to smuggle narcotics from Tijuana, Mexico, to a retail establishment just south of San Diego, California. The four men were charged after the discovery of the tunnel and subsequent seizure of more than a ton of cocaine.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, the arrests are the result of a federal drug investigation that began in December 2025 and focused on the retail business known as “Buy 4 Less” near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, twenty miles south of San Diego.
Authorities say the subterranean tunnel stretching from Tijuana, Mexico, to the purported retail store is nearly 2,000 feet long, 55 feet underground, and nearly five feet tall. The tunnel was constructed with reinforced walls, electricity, a rail system, and ventilation to the surface.
The United States Attorney provided two video clips showing the sophistication of the tunnel. In one video of the tunnel posted to YouTube, investigators provide a clip showing the exit into the retail establishment, and in a second video, agents show the view during their descent into the deep, narrow-walled tunnel.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office, the suspects arrested in connection with the investigation include Gregorio Epifanio Hernandez Lopez and Jose Jimenez of San Diego and Brandon Escalante Sandoval and Antonio Cortez of Mexico. All four defendants are charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances. Hernandez Lopez is facing additional federal charges of Conspiracy to Use a Cross-Border Tunnel and Conspiracy to Import Controlled Substances.
According to court documents, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tunnel Task Force agents maintained regular surveillance on the Buy 4 Less warehouse from December 2025 to May 2026 due to suspicious activity observed by the team.
After the investigation began, agents noticed a new group of about seven or eight “employees” frequenting the establishment. Among those individuals, defendant Hernandez appeared at the business sometime around January 2026, according to authorities. Investigators noticed activity at the purported retail establishment that raised suspicions and did not appear consistent with a normal retail business.
Court documents allege Hernandez and the other supposed “employees” engaged in unusual activity that included moving large numbers of suitcases out of the store and into vehicles or taking the suitcases on foot across the border into Mexico. Investigating agents believed the suitcases to be empty and did not intercept them at the time.
The investigation culminated when, according to the complaint, on May 29, 2026, while conducting surveillance on the Buy 4 Less establishment, agents observed a man loading large, heavy items into a nearby white van that departed the business and parked on the street near a mechanic shop. Authorities allege that a man riding a bicycle in the area, later identified as defendant Brandon Escalante, was seen conducting counter-surveillance by looking around and into parked cars.
Investigators allege Escalante later dismounted from the bicycle, approached the van, removed the vehicle key concealed in the gas cap area, got into the van, and reversed it into the mechanic shop at 923½ Coolidge Avenue. Agents observed multiple large items being moved between the first van and another at the mechanic shop, and then to a truck at the shop. According to the criminal complaint, the items included three deep freezers placed in the truck that were later loaded with packages.
The truck departed the mechanic shop and was subsequently stopped by San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies. A police K-9 unit was deployed, and the dog’s sniff search alerted to the scent of suspected controlled substances. Shortly afterward, more activity was observed at the Buy 4 Less establishment, including heavy boxes being loaded into a second truck.
The second truck was also stopped and searched by San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies and a K9 police dog. The canine also alerted to the scent of suspected controlled substances. Authorities also stopped a van allegedly driven by suspect Antonio Cortez near the mechanic shop on Coolidge Avenue. Sheriff’s deputies utilized a canine to search that vehicle and received a positive alert for the scent of controlled substances from within the vehicle.
According to the criminal complaint, the traffic stops resulted in the seizure of 173 packages weighing 630.96 pounds of suspected cocaine in one truck, 423 packages weighing 1034.84 pounds of suspected cocaine in the second truck, and 255 packages weighing 604.06 pounds from the van stopped near the mechanic shop.
According to authorities, field testing of the substance contained in the packages that collectively weighed 2,269.87 pounds tested positive for cocaine. As a result of the narcotics seizures, a U.S. Magistrate Judge signed warrants authorizing searches at Buy 4 Less and the mechanic shop at 923½ Coolidge Avenue.
While searching the Buy 4 Less retail establishment, agents found the exit point of a subterranean smuggling tunnel concealed beneath the floor of a storage room.
U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon commented on the seizure and tunnel discovery, saying, “For these defendants, it wasn’t a light at the end of the tunnel. It was lights and sirens.”
Authorities believe the cocaine smuggling scheme was being carried out by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). In February 2025, the U.S. State Department designated the CJNG as a foreign terrorist organization.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
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