Narco Tunnel Discovered between Arizona and Sonora

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An unfinished narco-tunnel was discovered on the border of Arizona (USA) with Sonora by agents of the Mexican Federal Police and the US Border Patrol.

“An incomplete tunnel was discovered that began on the Mexican side, west of the DeConcini port of entry, in Nogales, Arizona, Wednesday,” said Alan Regalado, spokesman for the Border Patrol Sector Tucson. Regalado indicated that the tunnel extended 20 feet (6 meters) to the US border.

The clandestine excavation was carried out within one of the drainage tunnels of the municipality of Nogales, Sonora (Mexico), built to prevent flooding in the city.

Regalado highlighted the importance of this type of joint operations between the two countries to combat organized crime. Due to its characteristics, border agents believe that this corridor was to be used for drug trafficking.

The tunnel is located 10 feet (3.05 meters) deep, with dimensions of 3 feet (91.5 centimeters) wide and 4 feet (1.22 meters) high. This was a small tunnel, where heavy machinery could not enter, ” said the agent.

The entrance was sealed with cement, although law enforcement on both sides of the border will continue to monitor the region, as indicated. The authorities also reported that no arrests were made related to the finding.

Like a tunnel that was found in late October, this tunnel was concealed in the floor of the existing water-drainage system, and officials found the tunnel’s entrance covered with a pile of dirt and capped with a Styrofoam and concrete mixture, the spokesman said.

At its entrance, the tunnel was around 3 feet wide and over 4 feet tall, and was about 10 feet below street level.

In less than a year, officials have discovered four tunnels in a two-mile area of Nogales, including Wednesday’s discovery, running beneath the city’s streets and the 18-foot-high “bollard” walls that remain topped with concertina, or “razor wire” installed by National Guard troops in November.

In May, a similar sweep discovered an incomplete tunnel about 75 yards west of the Dennis DeConcini border crossing in downtown Nogales. Like this most recent tunnel, the tunnel found in May did not open into the U.S., but rested more than a dozen feet below a parking lot in Nogales, Ariz. That tunnel was about 17 feet long, and extended about 12 feet into the U.S. Border Patrol (CBP) agents from the Tucson Sector, and Mexican Federal Police officers discovered that tunnel.

In October, officials found a 29-foot long tunnel that was not-yet-complete.

And, last December, Border Patrol agents conducting a similar sweep found an incomplete 50-foot tunnel that extended about 44 feet into the United States just beneath the port’s parking lot.

Also, a traffic lane at the DeConcini port was closed in March after a remediated tunnel collapsed, causing a minor disruption to traffic at the port.

Tucson Sector Border Patrol officials have discovered 124 tunnels in the sector since 1990, most of them in the Nogales area.

Authorities in Mexico and the U.S. will monitor and inspect the tunnel until it’s properly secured and remediated with concrete filler, the spokesman said.