Drug bust in Minnesota with underground tunnels and drugs 96 arrestsed
Executive summary
The narrative of a single Minnesota drug bust that involved underground tunnels, large quantities of drugs and 96 arrests is not supported by the reporting provided: the only subterranean narcotics tunnel described in these sources was discovered under the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in San Diego, not Minnesota [1], and the Minnesota cases in the record describe multiple separate investigations with far smaller arrest counts and drug seizures [2] [3] [4] [5]. Available official releases and news articles point to several major but distinct Minnesota drug probes—indictments of 15 and nine people, multi-hundred-pound meth seizures, and local raids—rather than one unified 96-person, tunnel-linked operation [6] [2] [4] [3] [5].
1. The tunnel story: found — but in California, not Minnesota
The centerpiece claim about an underground smuggling tunnel with a hidden entrance comes from U.S. Customs and Border Protection reporting of a “highly sophisticated” passage running under part of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry with a projected exit in San Diego, where agents encountered barricades meant to conceal the entrance [1]; that discovery is geographically tied to the U.S.–Mexico border and San Diego law enforcement, not to any Minnesota operation in the materials provided [1].
2. Minnesota’s big drug investigations are real — but piecemeal, not a single 96-arrest sweep
Multiple law enforcement actions in Minnesota documented in the sources show serious, large-scale investigations, but they are separate cases with far lower arrest totals: a DEA-led probe produced an indictment charging 15 people for trafficking methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl tied to Sinaloa and CJNG cartel pipelines into the Twin Cities [6] [2], another federal indictment targeted nine members of the “Big Sip” fentanyl organization [4], and local police described cases where dozens were arrested in regional sweeps—24 in a Duluth-area gang operation, for example [5]. A high-profile seizure of roughly 960 pounds of meth prompted arrests and raids but involved a small number of immediate arrests rather than a 96-person roundup [3].
3. Scale of seizures: multiple large meth hauls, but figures vary by case
Reporting records significant meth seizures in different disputes: one case tied to federal raids referenced as “possibly one of the largest meth busts in Minnesota history” involved the discovery of roughly 960 pounds of meth and subsequent arrests [3], and a separate federal charging document alleges a trafficking conspiracy that moved over 1,600 pounds of meth and other drugs into Minnesota between 2019 and 2024 [2]. These quantities demonstrate major trafficking activity, yet they are attributed across different investigations and timeframes rather than one single tunnel-enabled smuggling event [3] [2].
4. Arrest counts and public messages: watch for conflation and political framing
Official statements and press releases in these files include charged rhetoric—Homeland Security’s recounting of Operation Metro Surge framed arrests as “worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens,” a statement laden with political attack lines against local officials [7]—and social media amplification by public figures can further conflate separate operations into a single headline. The sources show arrests ranging from single-digit to a few dozen per case [6] [4] [5] [3], but none of the provided documents corroborate a 96-arrest figure tied to an underground tunnel in Minnesota.
5. Limits of reporting and what remains unknown
The supplied reporting does not rule out other unreported operations or later developments; it simply does not document a Minnesota tunnel-linked bust with 96 arrests. A statewide data portal for drug arrests exists (the Minnesota BCA drug arrests dashboard) and could be used to cross-check cumulative arrest tallies and timelines, but the dashboard entry here is only referenced, not mined for a specific 96-arrest event [8]. Until a primary law-enforcement release or credible local reporting ties a 96-person arrest total to a tunnel-enabled Minnesota case, that specific narrative should be treated as unverified by these sources.