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 / Modified dec 20, 2019 1:14 p.m.

Third cross-border tunnel discovered this month in Nogales

The tunnel connected a home in Arizona to an enormous cross-border sewer line. by Michel Marizco, Fronteras Desk

Tunnel nogales Entry way into the cross-border tunnel.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

A third cross tunnel running beneath the Arizona-Mexico border was found this week.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials described this tunnel as a sophisticated version of cross-border tunnels commonly used to smuggle narcotics.

tunnel drugs seized VIEW LARGER Narcotics seized during a cross-border tunnel bust in Nogales.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

It connected from a home in Nogales, Arizona, adjacent to the border to the international outfall interceptor. That’s the enormous cross-border line that carries sewage from both Nogales Arizona and Mexico to a treatment plant in Rio Rico.

This tunnel had a ventilation system made with reinforced tubing and a crawlspace.

ICE agents found more than 200 pounds of methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and cocaine inside. Two Mexican men were also arrested and face charges in U.S. District Court in Tucson.

Two other tunnels, one incomplete, were also found in the Nogales area earlier this month.

Fronteras Desk
This story is from the Fronteras Desk, a collaboration of Southwestern public radio stations, including NPR 89.1. Read more from the Fronteras Desk.
MORE: Border, Drugs, Fronteras Desk, Law Enforcement, News
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