Mexican police raided Thomas Markle's abandoned storage unit early Saturday morning – one day after the Daily Mail alerted the FBI to the sick trove of child pornography stashed inside.
Guardia Nacional officers who identified themselves as state sex crimes investigators swooped in on the 5ft by 10ft vault, three miles from Markle's former home in Rosarito, just after midnight local time.
The team, comprising forensic computing experts, a crime scene investigator and officials from the Baja California state attorney general's office, could be seen peering in with a flashlight and rummaging through the scruffy boxes.
One agent visibly recoiled and declared 'Ay cabron' – a Spanish phrase that can mean 'holy crap' or 'oh, damn '– while viewing the material, according to an onlooker.
A copy of the search warrant obtained by the Daily Mail reveals investigators were authorized by a judge to look for 'evidence consisting of child sexual abuse material' and 'the alleged commission of the crime of human trafficking in its aggravated form.'
They itemized and seized material including a computer, thumb drives, VHS tapes and a stack of magazines before closing up and sealing the unit with an official seizure notice, a source said.
Mexican Guardia Nacional sex crimes investigators are seen raiding Thomas Markle's storage locker in Rosarito, Mexico, on Saturday morning, hours after the Daily Mail reported that it contained child pornography
One shocked police officer recoiled and exclaimed 'Ay cabron' ('Oh damn') at the storage locker's contents, which the Daily Mail reported to the FBI
The raid on Baja Storage, a gated storage depot 10 miles south of the US border, came after the Daily Mail warned authorities that Unit 22 contained photos of naked Asian females and magazines showing children being sexually abused.
Afterwards, Markle's shipping container was locked and plastered with Mexican Guardia Nacional signs saying 'Aseguramiento de inmuebles' to indicate that the items within had been seized.
Hours before the raid, the Daily Mail photographed Markle being pushed between care homes in Lakeland, Florida, in a wheelchair.
Markle, who previously lost a leg to a blood clot and has been diagnosed with a cognitive illness, was accompanied by daughter Samantha and her boyfriend Mark Phillips. Both have denied allegations that Markle is a pedophile.
Our reporting team learned about the container last week while investigating 82-year-old Markle's former life in the gated expat community of San Antonio del Mar.
It was rented to the Duchess of Sussex's estranged father in 2017 but he fell behind on the payments two years ago and moved to the Philippines in early 2025 without emptying it.
The business's staff and owner say they knew nothing about the cache and were disgusted by its discovery.
The Daily Mail was able to access Markle's storage locker after he failed to keep up his rental payments. Its contents included photos of Asian females who appeared to be conspicuously young and books as well as magazines that sexualized children as 'Lolitas'
In addition to innocent family mementoes, letters and photos, there were black-and-white prints of naked Asian females – some who appear to be conspicuously young – as well as books and magazines sexualizing children as 'Lolitas.'
There were strips of 35mm negatives depicting voyeuristic images of kids on a beach and dusty VHS tapes with titles including 'Boys - Brother and Sister - Russian XX' and 'Manila Nites.'
The lockup also contained old computers, hard drives and a paper plate with the words 'DARK WEB' scribbled in red ink alongside various URLs.
The Daily Mail's tip-off prompted an immediate investigation involving US and Mexican officials.
FBI agents working out of the Tampa Field Office – close to the Lakeland, Florida, senior-living residence where Markle is staying after having his left leg amputated in December 2025 – are among those working the case.
Also involved are Southern California-based FBI officials whose job it is to coordinate law enforcement activity with their counterparts south of the border.
A grim-faced official with the Mexican Guardia Nacional totes a cardboard box during Saturday's raid at Thomas Markle's storage facility
After the raid, the locker was covered with Guardia Nacional signs saying its contents had been seized by police
According to the warrant obtained by the Daily Mail, Mexican state prosecutors asked Judge Estefany Moreno Gutierrez of the Judicial Branch of Baja California to sign off on a search warrant at a closed-door court hearing Friday.
'The search shall be conducted exclusively for the purpose of searching for, locating and securing evidence consisting of child sexual abuse material that may be in printed form, as well as USB memory devices and memory cards for photographic cameras and cellular telephones,' the document said.
'The search shall also seek to locate all communication devices, including cellular telephones, laptops, computers, tablets or any other electronic devices on which videos containing explicit sexual content may be stored.'
At around 4pm Friday a small group of uniformed officers arrived at the depot and asked to speak to the owner who, according to our source, wanted the material removed from his facility as soon as possible.
They took his statement and began inspecting and photographing the metal container's padlocked door but didn't open it.
As the evening wore on, more officers arrived from the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion – Mexico's State Investigation Agency – while soldiers from the Mexican National Guard were posted outside.
A Mexican Guardia Nacional truck is pictured outside the Rosarito storage facility early Saturday
Armed cops are seen guarding the entrance to the facility during the raid of Thomas Markle's storage locker
They showed an overnight caretaker the warrant and more than a dozen agents streamed inside at 12.48am. By 3am the raid was over and the convoy of cars drove away.
Public Prosecutor Emmanuel Sabino Sanchez Martinez must now submit a written report to the court within one day, but it's expected that it will take weeks to examine the seized items.
The discovery of the Mexican storage unit, minutes from Markle's former home, marks another extraordinary development in a case that could see him facing ten to 12 years in jail if charged and convicted.
The former Hollywood lighting director moved to Rosarito, a quiet coastal enclave popular with American retirees, in 2011.
It was while he was living there that his relationship with his daughter Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, fell apart.
In the lead-up to her 2018 wedding, Markle was caught secretly collaborating with a paparazzi photographer to stage a series of pictures at a time when Prince Harry was urging the media to leave his future father-in-law alone.
Markle relocated again to the Philippines in early 2025, where he is also under investigation after being reported to the police by his own son.
A wider shot of Saturday's raid shows members of the Guardia Nacional examining the contents of Thomas Markle's storage locker
Thomas Markle is pictured exiting a care home in Lakeland, Florida, on Friday afternoon
Markle lost one of his legs to a blood clot and has recently been diagnosed with a cognitive condition. He denies the allegations made against him
Thomas Markle Jr, 60, had allegedly found 'hundreds, if not thousands' of child sex images in boxes his dad had shipped to the Far East, according to The Sun newspaper.
Wheelchair-bound Markle denies wrongdoing and previously described the allegations as 'sick lies.'
Just hours before Saturday morning's raid, he was spotted being pushed between care homes in Florida.
He was accompanied by his eldest daughter, Samantha Markle, 61, the only one of his children with whom he maintains a relationship, and her boyfriend, Mark Phillips.
When a Daily Mail reporter approached her at her home, Phillips defended the elderly Markle, as Samantha sat nearby but did not speak.
'The only statement that you're going to get is that Thomas Markle doesn't even have fingerprints on the stuff in the Philippines,' said Phillips, 68.
'He didn't even ever touch it the whole time it was there, he can't be charged. Markle never had it in Mexico either ... The FBI has no jurisdiction in Mexico.
'Thomas Markle Sr hasn't lived in the States in 10 years. Even if there was bad [material] then the statute of limitations ran out five years ago. This is all bulls**t.'
Most of the photos found among 20 storage boxes in the Rosarito unit appear to have been taken when Markle was in his 40s or 50s.
He was 43 when he and Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, divorced in 1987 after eight years of marriage.
Last week Markle admitted to the Daily Mail that he paid for sex in the Philippines when he was single.
'I never had sex with anyone under the age of 18,' he said. 'I like Asian women but that is not a crime.'
The Duchess of Sussex said last week that she was 'deeply distressed' by the allegations engulfing her father in the Philippines.
She has not commented on the developments in Mexico.
The Daily Mail has reached out directly to Thomas Markle Sr for comment.
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