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  4. Mexican Officials Report Cross-Border Tunnel, Extends Approximately 30 Feet Into U.S.

Mexican Officials Report Cross-Border Tunnel, Extends Approximately 30 Feet Into U.S.

Release Date
Tue, 03/29/2016
An incomplete tunnel that begins in the neighboring community of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, east of the Morley Port of Entry

An incomplete tunnel that begins in the neighboring community of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, east of the Morley Port of Entry

TUCSON, Ariz. – Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents, acting on information provided by Mexican authorities Monday, investigated a cross-border tunnel that extends approximately 30 feet into the United States east of the Morley Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona.

Mexican government officials contacted the Nogales Border Patrol Station to report they had located a tunnel entrance in Nogales, Sonora. Nogales agents, in cooperation with Mexican authorities, investigated the tunnel and determined it to be incomplete and approximately 80 feet long.

Since agents discovered the first illicit tunnel in 1990 in Douglas, Arizona, Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents have investigated more than 115 tunnels (110 in the Nogales area alone) and seized in excess of 17,500 pounds of narcotics. Since October 1, 2015, Tucson Sector agents have located three tunnels.

The tunnels, typically primitive in nature, are generally used by transnational criminal organizations to smuggle narcotics into the United States. Agents put themselves in dangerous, unnerving situations when they investigate tunnels.

 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Last Modified: Feb 03, 2021