Federal indictment targets engineer behind Otay Mesa cross border tunnel

Federal prosecutors in San Diego announced a federal indictment against a 60-year-old Mexican national accused of engineering a massive cross-border drug tunnel in Otay Mesa. Luis Manuel Hernandez Victoria, who is known as El Ingeniero, faces multiple felony charges including providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

The Department of Justice said the subterranean passageway stretched approximately 1,933 feet from a residential property in Tijuana, Mexico, to a commercial storefront named Buy 4 Less on Roll Drive near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. Law enforcement officers discovered the tunnel during a raid on May 29 and subsequently seized more than a ton of cocaine valued at over $45 million.

Federal investigators monitored the commercial storefront using long-term surveillance and determined that customer foot traffic did not match ordinary business patterns. The indictment states that Hernandez designed the advanced engineering features inside the passage, which included reinforced concrete walls, an underground rail system, electrical wiring, and heavy-duty ventilation equipment.

Prosecutors alleged that Hernandez constructed the subterranean passage specifically for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The United States government officially designated the criminal organization as a foreign terrorist organization in February 2025.

Law enforcement officers in Mexico arrested Hernandez on October 15 in the state of Jalisco during an operation that also yielded seized weapons and narcotics. Federal officials confirmed that he is the seventh individual charged in connection with the cross-border smuggling network.

The drug conspiracy charges carry potential life sentences upon conviction, while the material support and tunnel construction counts each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.