The U.S.-Mexico border tunnel reappears

The U.S.-Mexico border tunnel reappears (Alberta News) Last week, law enforcement officers discovered an unusual sight in Douglas: a large hole was found in a room...

U.S.-Mexico border tunnel reappears (Alberta News) Last week, law enforcement officers discovered an unusual sight in Douglas: a large hole was found in a room, with the U.S.-Mexico border at both ends of the hole. They believe it is used by criminals to smuggle drugs. This is the second smuggling tunnel discovered in the state in less than two weeks. Federal law enforcement officials are concerned that smugglers are increasingly using tunnels to smuggle drugs into the United States to evade increasingly tight border security. This summer, the Border Patrol completed the installation of a new fence in Nograles that will allow U.S. and Mexican patrols to see each other, making it easier for smugglers to detect. In recent years, the Border Patrol has installed more than 300 miles of fencing and added vehicle inspection stations along the Arizona-Mexico border, adding hundreds of law enforcement agents. According to the Border Patrol's headquarters in Tucson, eight smuggling tunnels were discovered through July of this fiscal year, three more than the same period last year. (That number does not include two discovered in the past two weeks.) The tunnel is located at a house in Douglas, just yards from the Mexican border. The tunnel collapsed and the smugglers were discovered by police when they re-excavated the tunnel. Although law enforcement officers cleared the house of debris, Mexican authorities were unable to find the southern border entrance. Digging a border tunnel is a huge undertaking and requires expensive equipment such as saws, propellers, lights, generators and wood, all of which appear to be a piece of cake for smuggling syndicates. The week before, on August 16, law enforcement officers discovered a complex drug tunnel in Nogueira, 90 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet high, entering Nogueira from the Mexican state of Sonora. The tunnel also contains ventilation ducts, tools and electrical wiring. Police believe the main purpose of the tunnel is to smuggle drugs, not people.