A quiet Los Angeles neighborhood woke up to the sound of helicopters and battering rams as FBI and ICE Homeland Security Investigations agents raided the home of a prominent Somali immigration attorney — and uncovered a hidden tunnel system running beneath the property.

According to federal officials, the tunnel linked the upscale residence to a vacant storefront two blocks away, forming a concealed pipeline used to move fentanyl, cash and undocumented couriers in and out of the area without detection. Inside the passage, agents say they found duffel bags stuffed with pills, night‑vision cameras, air vents and even a crude rail cart for moving heavier loads.

Preliminary estimates put the value of the seized narcotics at $2.5 million, mostly in counterfeit pills pressed to resemble prescription opioids but laced with lethal synthetic compounds. Investigators believe the operation was feeding street gangs across Southern California and shipping bulk quantities to distribution hubs in the Midwest and East Coast.

The attorney, long celebrated in local media for “defending the vulnerable,” is now accused of leveraging his legal practice and community ties to recruit couriers, launder proceeds and shield key suspects from deportation. In total, 66 people were arrested in coordinated raids across Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix, including alleged tunnel engineers and overseas financiers.

Community leaders in LA’s Somali diaspora expressed shock and anger, warning that the case risks stigmatizing an entire community over the actions of a few. Federal prosecutors, meanwhile, are framing the bust as a textbook example of how sophisticated trafficking networks hide in plain sight — behind polished resumes, framed degrees and respectable front doors.