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.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

FENTANYL / 16 NOV 2022

Mexico’s two most powerful organized crime groups are reportedly sourcing precursor chemicals from the same suppliers to produce fentanyl.

COCAINE / 8 JUL 2021

A US investigation has shed light on the alleged participation of Guatemalan soldiers in a cocaine smuggling network linked to…

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 7 MAR 2022

Authorities in Mexico recently seized an historic amount of high-powered weapons and ammunition in a northern border state, laying bare…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…