Police charge alleged tunnel engineer in San Diego drug smuggling plot

The New York Post reported that United States authorities charged Luis Manuel Hernandez Victoria for his role in a cross border drug operation. Hernandez, known as El Ingeniero or The Engineer, is accused of designing and building an underground tunnel into San Diego to smuggle millions of dollars in cocaine. [1]

According to the New York Post, the illegal passage was built for the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, a Mexican organization designated by the United States government as a foreign terrorist group. The tunnel included a rail system to transport drugs across the border. [1]

Law enforcement officers discovered the passage on May 29, 2026. The New York Post reported that the tunnel ended beneath a retail store named Buy 4 Less, located at 2498 Roll Drive, Suite E, near San Diego. [1]

San Diego is located on the Pacific coast of Southern California next to the Mexican border. It is the second most populous city in California and has a population of over 1.4 million people. [4]

United States Attorney Adam Gordon stated that Hernandez engineered his own downfall. The inputs do not state when the legal proceedings against Hernandez will conclude. [1]