A cross-border tunnel near Yuma was discovered by Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents after a routine traffic stop involving Yuma resident Ivan Lopez.
The tunnel was found at an abandoned Kentucky Fried Chicken Lopez purchased in April for $390,000.
The tunnel was 5 ft. tall and 3 ft. wide.
From court records:
On August 13, 2018, at approximately 5:45 p.m., a San Luis Police Department officer stopped Lopez driving a white 2015 Chevrolet Silverado with a trailer attached to the hitch for an equipment violation. During the traffic stop, a Narcotic Detection Dog (NDD) positively alerted for the presence of drugs on the trailer. The trailer was not covered, and law enforcement found two large containers filled with packages wrapped in plastic. Suspecting the packages to contain a large quantity of drugs, the officer called Federal Special Agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
The HSI agents removed the two containers from the trailer, which contained two hundred thirty-nine (239) packages, including 118.65 kilograms (261 pounds) of methamphetamine, 6.4 kilograms (14 pounds) of cocaine, 13.65 kilograms (30 pounds) of white heroin, 6.25 kilograms (13.7 pounds) of brown heroin, and 3.1 kilograms (6.8 pounds) of fentanyl.
On August 15, 2018, law enforcement executed Federal search warrants at
Lopez’s business and residence. A search of Yuma County Assessor’s records show that Lopez purchased the business property on April 17, 2018, for $390,000.00. Records also reveal that Lopez paid this entire sum in United
States currency. The property is located approximately two hundred yards north of the international border with the city of San Luis Rio Colorado,
Mexico.
Law enforcement observed Lopez coming in and out of this business property on several occasions, including carrying the large containers from the business to the trailer just prior to the traffic stop on August 13, 2018.
On August 15, 2018, at approximately 2:00 p.m., law enforcement searched
Defendant’s business property, and located an opening in the floor of the property. The opening lead to a tunnel, which was large enough for people to walk and transport packages through the tunnel and into Lopez’s business property. On August 15, 2018, agents were informed by representatives of the Mexican government that the tunnel did in fact transverse the international border between the Republic of Mexico and the United States. HSI Special Agents have also verified that the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security did not authorize the tunnel and that the tunnel is in fact subject to inspection by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The approximate distance from the tunnel’s exit point on Lopez’s property in San Luis, Arizona from the primary border fence demarking the international border is approximately 610 feet (610 feet is approximately 200 yards). This
distance does not include the exact distance from the tunnel’s entry point in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico to the international border.
The tunnel that ended in Lopez’s business property extended to Mexico and
was built for smuggling large quantities of controlled substances. This tunnel was very well constructed and would have taken this Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) a long time to dig and would have been very expensive.
This tunnel necessarily required a combination of several individuals on both sides of the border, engaged in an intricate, risky transnational conspiracy to construct such a secretive structure. A DTO would limit knowledge and access to this type of tunnel to very few well-trusted members of the organization.
Lopez was clearly a well-trusted member of this DTO. Not only was Lopez
trusted with knowledge and access to this transnational tunnel, Lopez was trusted with a very large quantity of expensive drugs. Based on wholesale prices in Arizona, 261 pounds of methamphetamine is worth $417,600, 6.4 kilograms of cocaine is worth $134,400, 13.65 kilograms of white heroin is worth $395,850, 6.25 kilograms of brown heroin is worth $118,750, and 3.1 kilograms of fentanyl is worth $99,200. Therefore, Lopez was trusted
with $1,165,800 worth of controlled substances.