Sinaloan cartel member charged with building drug tunnels

A reputed cartel member known as “Quirino,” “El Gato” and “Old Man” was charged Wednesday with overseeing the construction and operation of two sophisticated tunnels beneath the international border used to smuggle tons of marijuana into the United States.

A federal grand jury in San Diego charged Jose Sanchez Villalobos, 49, with 13 counts related to the two tunnels, both which ended in Otay Mesa. U.S. officials said Sanchez was the regional manager for the Sinaloa cartel in Tijuana, Baja and Jalisco.

According to court documents, he is believed to be the highest ranking member of a drug trafficking organization responsible for building and using tunnels to smuggle marijuana into the United States.

One of the tunnels was described as the most sophisticated tunnel ever discovered on the border.

Sanchez was arrested by Mexican authorities in mid-January based on a warrant issued in San Diego. He in the process of being extradited from Mexico.

The indictment said Sanchez helped finance and construct a 2,200-foot tunnel discovered in an Otay Mesa warehouse on Nov. 25, 2010. The discovery led to the seizure of 22 tons of marijuana. Sanchez played the same role in the construction of a second, more sophisticated tunnel found about a year later.

It ran for 1,836 feet, 40 feet underground, with an electric rail system, an elevator and walls braced with wood. It connected warehouses in Tijuana and Otay Mesa. Its discovery led to the seizure of 32 tons of marijuana.

The marijuana smuggled through the tunnels was moved from southern Mexico to northern Mexico, then stored in “stash houses” before it was moved to market, federal officials said.

According to court documents, Sanchez determined who could smuggle the marijuana through the tunnels as well as how much they could haul, and charged fees to drug traffickers to use the tunnels.

The charges include conspiracy to distribute marijuana, construction and financing of a cross-border tunnel, and the use of a tunnel to smuggle marijuana.

U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy praised the work of U.S. and Mexican law-enforcement officials in the investigation. Participating U.S. agencies included the Department of Homeland Security, the San Diego Tunnel Task Force and the Border Patrol.


