Scuba Diver Who Smuggled 55
Pounds of Cocaine Across
Border Will Be Sentenced in
December
SAN DIEGO
A scuba diver who smuggled 55 pounds of cocaine through an
underwater border tunnel is scheduled to be sentenced in
December, according to officials.
The tunnel was approximately 45 to 50 yards long, officials
said.
Evelio Padilla-Zepeda, a Honduran national, admitted last week
in federal court that he donned a wetsuit and scuba gear and
smuggled 55 pounds of cocaine through an underwater drug
tunnel that exited into the All-American Canal just north of
the international border, officials said.
“This investigation demonstrates the incredible lengths that
these drug trafficking organizations will go to ensure that
their product makes it to the streets,” said DEA San Diego
Special Agent in Charge William R. Sherman. “With the
assistance of our law enforcement partners, a cross border
drug tunnel was shut down, keeping our communities safe.”
CBS News 8 – San Diego, CA News Station – KFMB Channel 8
Here are the facts surrounding this case, according to
authorities:
On April 25, 2015, Border Patrol agents were patrolling
about seven miles east of the Calexico West Port of
Entry at 10:25 p.m. when they were informed by a remote
video surveillance operator that there was an individual
along the All-American Canal.
Agents searched the southern embankment and encountered
the defendant, who was soaking wet and dressed in a
wetsuit.
Agents apprehended the defendant and continued to search
the immediate area and found 25 vacuum-sealed weighted
and gift-wrapped packages of cocaine plus scuba tanks
and diving gear, including two rebreather tanks which
recirculate a diver’s exhaled breath and prevent telltale bubbles – a giveaway that a diver is in the water.
Subsequently, Border Patrol agents found an underground
tunnel from Mexicali, Mexico, continuing under the
border and ending at the south bank of the canal.
The exit point of the tunnel is in the embankment of the
canal, partially submerged by the canal’s water and
covered with rocks which have to be moved to access the
exit.
In court, officials said Padilla-Zepeda admitted that he
entered the south canal bank of the All-American Canal in
Calexico through an underground tunnel from Mexico into the
United States, wearing scuba gear and carrying 25 packages of
cocaine.
The defendant also admitted that he intended to use his scuba
gear to transport the cocaine in the canal and underwater to
another location in the All-American Canal, officials noted.