By EDMUND M. SILVESTRE

A 27-year-old Filipino-Canadian was among the three immigrants arrested on charges of building an elaborate and sophisticated illegal tunnel under the American and Canadian borders and smuggling 93 pounds of marijuana into the United States.

Jonathan Valenzuela of Surrey, British Columbia, was arrested July 20 and charged in U.S. District Court in Seattle, Washington, with conspiracy to distribute and import marijuana, along with co-defendants Timothy Woo, a 34-year-old Chinese; and Francis Devandra Raj, a 30-year-old Indian, both also from B.C.

The three are being held in a Tacoma jail and will each face a sentence of 10 years or more if convicted.

Investigators said the three are well known to police in Canada.

The complaint said the three had even established a price list, telling one trafficker they would charge U.S.$500 per pound of marijuana smuggled through, adding they could run loads of up to 300 pounds at a time.
Raj owns the property on the Canadian side of the border where the entrance to the $1 million tunnel is hidden under a Quonset hut.

On the American side, the tunnel terminates beneath the living room floor of a home located at 151 East Boundary Road, in Lynden, Washington.

Construction of the tunnel began in late 2003 and completed only in early July 2005.

Raj, according to the complaint filed with the court, is a suspected drug dealer with a criminal history of marijuana possession and immigration violations. 

Valenzuela, meanwhile, had gone through a number of jobs, including attending school to be a hairdresser and selling insurance, investigators said.

The Canadian man of Filipino descent was described as a student and insurance agent on legal documents in Canada. Revenue Canada has a lien on property he owns in Surrey for $9,695, according to police.

Earlier this spring, the council for the building in which he lives put a lien on the property for $2,086.

Authorities said a charge of possession of a controlled substance against Valenzuela in a Surrey court in 2000 was stayed.

Valenzuela reportedly grew up with Woo, who was indicted by a Seattle grand jury in 1999 for conspiring to import marijuana into the U.S.

According to the indictment, the scheme involved driving a truck from Whatcom County carrying $35,650 into Canada to buy the drugs. Woo never showed up in court and had been a wanted fugitive.

Authorities said investigation will continue into the smugglers’ networks and that more arrests are expected on both sides of the border.
It is the first tunnel ever discovered along the U.S.-Canada border apart from 33 discovered on the southern border, particularly the U.S.-Mexico border.

The tunnel starts from Raj’s house in Langley, Surrey, which was purchased by him for about U.S.$250,000.

Describing the tunnel as sophisticated and well-built, authorities said it had adequate ventilation and light. “It is probably one of the most sophisticated tunnels we have seen in the United States,” special agent Rodney Benson of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Seattle said. The 360-feet long tunnel runs at a depth between 3-10 feet.

“The presence of a tunnel on our northern border threatens the security of both countries, whether it is used to smuggle drugs, contraband or even terrorists,” U.S. Attorney John McKay said. “Shutting it down, just as it is completed, is a huge blow to these criminals.”

The tunnel will be filled with concrete soon.
Meanwhile, the authorities were looking for the owners of the abandoned house on the American side close to where the tunnel ended.

Raj, and his alleged collaborators were arrested when they returned to the house after dropping off drugs, officials said.

Using surveillance techniques, authorities observed the three suspects carrying large bags through the tunnel, and ultimately seized more than 42 kilograms of marijuana being transported away from the Lynden house.

Police said the smugglers spent more than a year building the tunnel. Unconfirmed reports said an audio tape of car repairs was used to mask the digging work inside the hut.

“It was well-built, probably one of the most sophisticated tunnels we’ve ever seen,” Benson said.

Canadian border officials were reportedly tipped off that something was being built in late 2003. Video supplied by investigators showed the inside of the tunnel was lined with wood supports and concrete reinforced with steel.

The builders had installed a small cart to allow them to move freight or people from one end to the other.

Large quantities of potent “BC Bud” are smuggled to the U.S. each year from British Columbia, where marijuana growing has been estimated to be worth more than $2.25 billion a year.

Investigators said while they believe it had only been used briefly to smuggle marijuana to the U.S., the tunnel may also have been intended to smuggle illegal immigrants into the U.S. and cocaine and guns into Canada.
Using a delayed notice search warrant, agents entered Raj’s home July 2, 2005, to examine the tunnel.

Shortly thereafter, a U.S. district judge authorized the installation of cameras and listening devices in the home to monitor activities.

With the help of these devices, agents from various federal, state and local law enforcement authorities, including the DEA and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), observed multiple trips by Raj, Woo and Valenzuela through the tunnel carrying large hockey bags or garbage bags.

The bags were loaded into a van on the U.S. side and then driven south for delivery. In one instance, the bags were loaded at the house into an SUV with Utah plates.

The conspirators then delivered the car to a woman with a small child at Bellis Fair Mall. The Washington State Patrol stopped the car loaded with 93 pounds of marijuana in Ellensburg, Washington.

“This tunnel was ambitious, sophisticated and an example of the lengths individuals and criminal organizations will go to for illegal profits,” said Inspector Pat Fogarty of B.C.

Law enforcement authorities said the tunnel ran at depths ranging up to 10 feet, was strengthened with iron reinforcing bar and 2-by-6 wood supports, had a concrete floor, fiberglass walls, a ventilation system, and video security and groundwater-removal systems. Several altars with flowers and pictures of saints also were found inside, they said.

Canadian officials have said that 3.8 million pounds of marijuana are produced annually in B.C. and that about 50 percent of it is smuggled to the U.S.

The crop includes a substantial amount of a potent hydroponically grown Canadian marijuana known as “BC Bud,” which sells for up to $6,000 a pound, 10 times the price of Mexican marijuana.