Reynoso Bros International Company

Attacking a vast cocaine trafficking network that was allegedly camouflaged by U.S. and Mexican import-export companies, federal prosecutors charged the owners of a prominent Mexican foods business Thursday with conspiring to use a cross-border tunnel to smuggle drugs into California.

Some accused drug barons adopt disguises and lead shadowy existences in clandestine enclaves. Antonio Reynoso, however, lives out of the closet, in plain view of American officials who would like him extradited to the United States. According to U.S. prosecutors, Reynoso was a mastermind of a conspiracy to ship cocaine through a fantastic "narco-tunnel" between Tijuana and San Diego. Yet he belongs to powerful business organizations, owns companies, and sends his children to private schools.

The owner of a prominent Los Angeles food importing business pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to use a 1,416-foot-long "narco-tunnel" to smuggle drugs into the United States, the U.S. attorney's office said. Once described as the "Taj Mahal" of tunnels, the underground passageway ran north from a Tijuana warehouse. Equipped with lights and ventilation, it ended at Otay Mesa, where a cannery was being built to conceal the operation by executives of Reynoso Bros.

The owner of a prominent Los Angeles food importing business pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to use a 1,416-foot-long "narco-tunnel" to smuggle drugs into the United States, the U.S. attorney's office said. Once described as the "Taj Mahal" of tunnels, the underground passageway ran north from a Tijuana warehouse. Equipped with lights and ventilation, it ended at Otay Mesa, where a cannery was being built to conceal the operation by executives of Reynoso Bros.

Some accused drug barons adopt disguises and lead shadowy existences in clandestine enclaves. Antonio Reynoso, however, lives out of the closet, in plain view of American officials who would like him extradited to the United States. According to U.S. prosecutors, Reynoso was a mastermind of a conspiracy to ship cocaine through a fantastic "narco-tunnel" between Tijuana and San Diego. Yet he belongs to powerful business organizations, owns companies, and sends his children to private schools.

Attacking a vast cocaine trafficking network that was allegedly camouflaged by U.S. and Mexican import-export companies, federal prosecutors charged the owners of a prominent Mexican foods business Thursday with conspiring to use a cross-border tunnel to smuggle drugs into California.