Tuesday, 14 January 2003
By Tim Steller
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
NOGALES, Sonora - Mexican drug investigators have found three more tunnels and a fourth under construction near the U.S.-Mexico border at Nogales.
Saturday's finds were less than a mile west of the downtown Nogales port of entry and followed the discovery Dec. 27 of a tunnel just east of the port of entry.
| Photo courtesy FEADS An official inspects a tunnel leading from a storm drain beneath Nogales, Sonora, in this handout photo. Three finished tunnels, along with a fourth under construction, were discovered by Mexican drug officials. |
In an unusual twist, it was Mexican investigators who found the latest tunnels and called in U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents Monday for help.
No arrests were made and no drugs were found, but investigators said the tunnels were too small to be used for smuggling people.
Mauro Emilio García Silva, commander of Mexico's anti-narcotic agency, called FEADS, said his agents conducted a sweep of the underground wash that runs parallel to the border about noon Saturday. The tunnels opened to the north and were less than 50 yards from the border, but it was unclear if they crossed the border.
In addition to the tunnels, the investigators found a fifth opening where builders stored ropes, shovels and other materials for constructing and using the tunnels.
Lt. Raul Rodriguez, head of the Santa Cruz County Metro Task Force, said investigators have found 13 tunnels in Nogales, Ariz., and Sonora since 1995. Almost all of them connect to the cities' natural system of washes, which are covered by streets and other construction.
The previous tunnel was uncovered Dec. 27 and ended in an opening in the pavement of East International Street, a block east of the downtown port of entry. Last year investigators seized 374 pounds of cocaine and 460 pounds of marijuana that passed through that tunnel, said spokesman Roger Maier of the U.S. Customs Service.
Norma Ríos, who runs a store near the underground wash investigators swept Saturday, said it was not unusual to see police plunging into the muddy world under her neighborhood. "They come every once in a while," she said.
* Contact reporter Tim Steller at 434-4086 or at steller@azstarnet.com.