Man indicted in alleged Otay Mesa tunnel case

A federal grand jury has indicted Luis Manuel Hernández Victoria on four charges tied to an alleged cross-border tunnel used to move drugs from Mexico into the United States. Prosecutors accuse him of helping design and build the passage, but the indictment’s allegations have not been tested in court. The charges include providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiring to construct or finance a cross-border tunnel, conspiring to use a tunnel to import controlled substances, and conspiring to import controlled substances. Prosecutors identify the organization as the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, or CJNG, which the U.S. government designated a foreign terrorist organization in 2025. Authorities discovered the tunnel on May 29, 2026, beneath a retail store near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in San Diego. Prosecutors say it ran from Tijuana to the store, identified as a former Buy 4 Less at 2498 Roll Drive, Suite E. They estimate it was about 1,933 feet long, 55 feet deep and 4.5 feet high. The passage had reinforced walls, a rail system, electricity and ventilation, according to prosecutors. Authorities seized more than one ton of cocaine in...