HomeNewsBriefVentilated Drug Tunnel Found At Arizona Border
BRIEF

Ventilated Drug Tunnel Found At Arizona Border

MERIDA INITIATIVE / 10 MAY 2011 BY ELYSSA PACHICO EN

The Tucson Border Patrol said they have discovered a smuggling tunnel, equipped with ventiliation and electricity, at the border between Mexico and Arizona.

EFE reports that authorities discovered the tunnel May 5. It leads to an abandoned warehouse in the border town of Nogales, Sonora. The tunnel measured 15 feet deep and 250 feet long, dug through solid rock, leading Chief Border Patrol Agent Randy Hill to describe it as more sophisticated than other tunnels found recently. 

In November 2010, authorities found a similiarly sophisticated tunnel, equipped with ventilation, connecting Tijuana to San Diego. Tunnels are a popular smuggling method at the border, as well as other innovative tactics like semi-submersibles, pigeons, and catapults

In testimony supplied earlier this year to U.S. Congress, the Border Patrol said that just 15 percent of the U.S.-Mexico frontier is under tight control.

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