Cross-Border Tunnel Found in Nogales, Arizona

TUCSON, Arizona – The U.S. Border Patrol on Tuesday reported finding a cross-border tunnel that originally had been discovered by Mexican authorities, who then provided information on it to U.S. immigration authorities so they could perform their own investigation.

Following up on the tip provided by Mexico, Border Patrol agents found the tunnel stretching approximately 10 meters (yards) into U.S. territory just east of the Morley pedestrian crossing point in Nogales, Arizona, which is known as the “drug tunnel capital.”

On Monday, in a cooperative action between the Border Patrol and Mexican authorities, the tunnel measuring 24.4 meters (about 80 feet) in length, all told, was found to be unfinished.

Since the first such illegal tunnel was found in 1990 in Douglas, Arizona, U.S. authorities have found more than 115 tunnels, 110 of them in the Nogales area, and have managed to seize more than 17,500 pounds of drugs that were being smuggled through them.

During the current fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1, authorities in the Tucson sector have found or been tipped off to three tunnels.

U.S. authorities said in a statement that agents put their lives in danger when they enter the tunnels to investigate them.