The passageway that zigzagged underground between San Diego and Tijuana , Mexico , was so sophisticated that officials call it a `` super tunnel . '' The drug tunnel stretched the length of nearly six football fields and had lighting , ventilation and an electric rail system , authorities said Thursday . It was 35 feet deep , 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide . And it was built by one of Mexico 's most notorious criminal organizations , the Sinaloa cartel , U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy told reporters . And now three people are in custody and could face federal charges after investigators seized more than 8 tons of marijuana and 325 pounds of cocaine linked to the tunnel , U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement . Word of the detentions comes a day after investigators shut down what they described as the newly completed and `` highly sophisticated '' tunnel , which connected a warehouse in Mexico with another warehouse in a California industrial park . Duffy said that authorities have a message for cartels tied to drug tunnels . `` If you continue to build and attempt to use these tunnels , we are determined to make this a big waste of your dirty money , '' she said . `` Not only will we take your drugs and shut down your tunnels before you even get an opportunity to use them , but we 're now in a position where we 're going after your management . '' Prosecutors are reviewing charges against the detained individuals and expect they will be filed later Thursday , according to Duffy . The discovery was made by the San Diego Tunnel Task Force , which includes members of ICE , U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Drug Enforcement Administration . Authorities compared the find to other `` super tunnels '' discovered along the border in recent years . `` It was just two years ago , November 2011 , that we discovered and shut down two elaborate super tunnels like the one here today , '' Duffy said . `` And at the time we did so , we stood before you and we warned the cartels directly . If you build them , we 're going find them , and if we find them , we 're going to destroy them . Today , we again make good on that promise . '' The Sinaloa cartel , named after the Mexican state where the gang was formed , is one of the most powerful drug-trafficking groups in the nation . Leader Joaquin `` El Chapo '' Guzman 's nickname , which means `` shorty , '' matches his 5-foot-6-inch frame , though he has climbed to great heights in the drug smuggling business . Forbes magazine has estimated that `` El Chapo '' is worth $ 1 billion . The U.S. Treasury Department has declared him the most influential trafficker in the world , and Mexican authorities have been on his tail since his 2001 escape from a Mexican prison in a laundry cart . Officials said the drugs seized as part of this week 's tunnel investigation had an estimated street value of nearly $ 12 million .
Authorities say the drugs had a street value of nearly $ 1 million . Police describe the underground tunnel as a ` ` super tunnel '' Authorities say three people were detained after the cocaine was found . U.S. prosecutor : The tunnel was built by Mexico 's Sinaloa cartel .