U.S. Indicts Alleged Mexican-Cartel Tunnel Engineer

The U.S. government indicted a Mexican national credited with masterminding numerous tunnels under the U.S. Mexico border for the terrorist organization Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG). The Mexican cartel is one of seven previously designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government. According to information released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, a grand jury returned an indictment against Luis Manuel Hernandez Victoria, accusing him of designing and building tunnels for CJNG. Hernandez Victoria, 60, remains in Mexican custody, following his arrest in Jalisco in mid-October. Once the U.S. government can extradite him to California, he is expected to appear before a federal judge for initial hearings in the pending case. If convicted of the various charges against him, Hernandez could receive a possible sentence of up to life in prison. Federal prosecutors allege that Hernandez was the mastermind behind a tunnel that authorities discovered in May 2026 in San Diego. At the time of the discovery, authorities were able to seize more than one ton of cocaine belonging to CJNG. Breitbart Texas’s Randy Clark reported that the tunnel spanned almost 2,000 feet and included reinforced walls, electricity, and a railway system. The tunnel began on the Mexican side in Tijuana and ran to a store in San Diego. Clark wrote: According to court documents, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tunnel Task Force agents maintained regular surveillance on the Buy 4 Less warehouse from December 2025 to May 2026 due to suspicious activity observed by the team. After the investigation began, agents noticed a new group of about seven or eight “employees” frequenting the establishment. Among those individuals, defendant Hernandez appeared at the business sometime around January 2026, according to authorities. Investigators noticed activity at the purported retail establishment that raised suspicions and did not appear consistent with a normal retail business. Court documents allege Hernandez and the other supposed “employees” engaged in unusual activity that included moving large numbers of suitcases out of the store and into vehicles or taking the suitcases on foot across the border into Mexico. Investigating agents believed the suitcases to be empty and did not intercept them at the time. Authorities charged six other men in connection with the tunnel. Those included Gregorio Epifanio Hernandez Lopez and Jose Jimenez of San Diego and Brandon Escalante Sandoval and Antonio Cortez of Mexico, Clark reported. Prosecutors described Hernandez Victoria as the mastermind behind the structure. Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.