CJNG Narco Tunnel Discovered in San Diego Storefront, Over 1 Ton of Cocaine Seized

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

A nearly 2,000-foot-long tunnel stretching from Tijuana to Otay Mesa was recently discovered by law enforcement officials, leading to federal drug distribution charges announced Monday against four people.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the tunnel led into a fake discount store in Otay Mesa called Buy 4 Less, which investigators have been surveilling since December due to suspicious activity.

Investigators regularly saw a group of supposed employees in and around the store, though the location "did not appear to be consistent with a normal retail location" and featured "minimal foot traffic from customers coming in and out of the Buy 4 Less store," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Authorities also surveilled numerous empty suitcases leaving the store and being walked across the nearby border crossing into Mexico on several occasions.

Charged in the case are Gregorio Epifanio Hernandez Lopez, 29, of San Diego; Jose Jimenez, 32, of San Diego; Antonio Cortez, 18, of Mexico; and Brandon Escalante Sandoval, 26, of Mexico.

Buy 4 Less Store

Investigators from HSI's Tunnel Task Force performed regular surveillance on the Buy 4 Less warehouse in Otay Mesa, California from December 2025 to May 2026 due to suspicious activity there.

Investigators observed minimal foot traffic from customers coming in and out of the Buy 4 Less store. Prior to the Buy 4 Less storefront, that location, just north of the Otay Mesa crossing, was an auto registration business.

In December 2025, a new group of around seven or eight “employees” were seen regularly, in and around Buy 4 Less. These individuals included defendant Gregorio Epifanio Hernandez Lopez of San Diego, whom agents observed at Buy 4 Less beginning in at least January 2026.

Hernandez and the othersthat regularly frequented the store engaged in unusual activity such as transporting large numbers of suitcases out of the store and into vehicles or walking the suitcases across the border into Mexico. 

Based on how Hernandez and the others handled the suitcases, they appeared to be empty so law enforcement did not intervene at the time.

On May 29, 2026, while conducting surveillance on Buy 4 Less, agents observed a man loading three large, heavy items into a white van which left Buy 4 Less, driving about 18 miles north and ultimately parked on the street near a mechanic shop located at 923½ Coolidge Avenue National City, California.

National City Auto Shop

Brandon Escalante was seen riding his bicycle in the area while looking around and into parked cars.

Escalante then approached the van, took the key left in the gas cap area, and backed it into the small auto shop at 923½ Coolidge Avenue. Agents observed that the van was backed up to another white van with the rear doors from both vans open.

Agents watched people remove three deep freezers from the first van and place them onto the bed of a white stake bed truck, then load the deep freezers with packages.

After the packages were loaded into the deep freezers, the truck exited 923½ Coolidge Avenue and parked a short distance away. Escalante was seen exiting the truck, grabbing his bicycle from the truck bed, placing the keys underneath the truck on the passenger side, and departing the area. Agents then observed another male, later identified as Jose Jimenez, grab the vehicle keys and drive away in the truck. 

San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies subsequently conducted a traffic stop of the truck, with lights flashing, and a K9 police dog alerted to the presence of controlled substances.

Shortly after the traffic stop of the truck, agents watching Buy 4 Less observed two men take heavy boxes out of Buy 4 Less and load them into a second truck. Hernandez entered the second truck and drove away. San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies conducted a traffic stop of that second truck a short distance away from the Buy 4 Less, and a K9 police dog alerted to the presence of controlled substances.

Inside the three vehicles, agents found a combined 1,209 kilos of cocaine in more than 850 packages, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Kevin Murphy, special agent in charge of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit, highlighted that the seized drugs have an estimated value of more than $45 million, which he described as "a major blow to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel."

The Buy 4 Less store was then searched, revealing the tunnel's exit point, which was hidden beneath the floor of a storage room. Following the US operation last Friday, Mexico's FGR obtained a search warrant for the two-story house that the tunnel was located in Nueva Tijuana.

Tijuana Tunnel

The tunnel, which was accessed using a sophisticated hydraulic lift, is approximately 55 feet deep and extends approximately 1,064 feet from its exit point at Buy 4 Less to the U.S./Mexico International Border, where agents estimate it continues for another approximately 800 feet to its entry point.

The tunnel is equipped with electricity and ventilation and at some points is up to 4.5 feet tall.

The entrance to the tunnel was located in a property in Nueva Tijuana in Mexico. Mexican authorities seized methamphetamine, marijuana, ammunition, cell phones, and documents at the property.

Sources DOJ, Zeta Tijuana, NBC San Diego