gents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) continued to gather evidence following the discovery of an incomplete pipeline-style smuggling tunnel Thursday afternoon. The tunnel originated beneath the floor of a vacant supermarket.

ICE says that the discovery came after a hazardous materials unit from the city of Calexico responded to reports of a possible gas leak at the former Vons store on West 2nd Street. When the team attempted to enter the shuttered building, they spotted a massive piece of drilling equipment parked inside. Local authorities alerted ICE HSI agents, who secured the scene and informed their law enforcement counterparts in Mexico. HSI agents subsequently obtained a federal search warrant authorizing them to enter to the vacant building.

HSI investigators estimate the 4-inch diameter tunnel extends approximately 100 yards from the vacant supermarket, but it had not yet reached Mexico. The use of pipeline-style tunnels is one of the newest approaches being employed by drug smuggling organizations. The narrow passages are lined with PVC pipe and the drugs are smuggled through.