Alleged Engineer of CJNG Cartel’s Cross-Border Tunnel Indicted for Providing Material Support to Foreign Terrorist Organization

SAN DIEGO - A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging Mexican engineer Luis Manuel Hernandez Victoria with designing and constructing a sophisticated cross-border subterranean drug tunnel for the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, a Mexican syndicate which the U.S. government has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.

The indictment charges Hernandez, also known as "El Ingeniero" (the Engineer), with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization; conspiracy to construct or finance a cross-border tunnel; conspiracy to use a cross-border tunnel to import controlled substances; and conspiracy to import controlled substances.

"Hernandez engineered his own downfall," said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon.

"Today's indictment underscores the relentless commitment of Homeland Security Investigations and our HSTF partners to dismantling the transnational criminal organizations that threaten our national security," said Kevin Murphy, Special Agent in Charge, HSI San Diego. "By utilizing every resource at our disposal through the Homeland Security Task Force, HSI will continue to bring the cartel leaders and architects of cross-border smuggling tunnels like Hernandez to justice."

According to public reports, Hernandez was arrested in the state of Jalisco on October 15, 2026. Mexican authorities seized weapons and narcotics at the time of Hernandez's arrest.

The indictment alleges Hernandez's involvement in constructing the tunnel found inside a retail store at 2498 Roll Drive, Suite E in San Diego on May 29, 2026, for the benefit of the CJNG, which was designated a foreign terrorist organization on February 20, 2025.

At the time the tunnel was discovered, federal law enforcement seized over one ton of cocaine estimated to be worth more than $45 million USD. Hernandez is the seventh person to be charged in connection with the tunnel. The investigation is ongoing.

The subterranean passageway,Links to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. stretching from Tijuana, Mexico to the purported retail store near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry known as "Buy 4 Less," was estimated to be about 1,933 feet long, 55 feet deep and 4.5-feet in height, with reinforced walls, rail and ventilation systems and electricity.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Deshong and Jordan Arakawa.

DEFENDANT

Luis Manuel Hernandez Victoria Age: 60 Guadalajara, Mexico

Aka "El Ingeniero"

Aka "El Inge"

Aka "Nalgon"

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Construct or Finance Cross-Border Tunnel-Title 18, U.S.C., Section 555(a) and (d)

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $500,000 fine

Conspiracy to Use Cross-Border Tunnel to Import Controlled Substances-Title 18, U.S.C., Section 555(c) and (d)

Maximum penalty: Life in prison and $10,000,000 fine

Conspiracy to Import Controlled Substances-Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 952, 960, and 963

Maximum penalty: Life in prison and $10 million fine

Providing Material Support to Foreign Terrorist Organization-Title 18, U.S.C., Section 2339B(a)(1)

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $500,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations

U.S. Border Patrol

San Diego County Sheriff's Office

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Drug Enforcement Administration

California Department of Justice

Federal Bureau of Investigation

*Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF San Diego comprises agents and officers from FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals, Department of Defense, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Interpol, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California.

High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, provides assistance to Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States. This grant program is administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). There are currently 33 HIDTAs, and HIDTA-designated counties are located in 50 states, as well as in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.