Going under.
December 9, 2007
Check out this NY Times article (via BLDBLOG) about a smuggling tunnel under the U.S.–Mexico border.
Three or four feet wide and six feet high, the passageway is illuminated by compact fluorescent bulbs (wired to the Mexican side), supported by carefully placed wooden beams and kept dry by two pumps. The neatly squared walls, carved through solid rock, bear the signs of engineering skill and professional drilling tools.
Shrink-wrapped bundles of marijuana, nearly 14,000 pounds worth $5.6 million in street sales, were found in the shipping container and in a trailer next to it, making clear the tunnel’s purpose: to serve as another major smuggling corridor. Found Monday here in Tecate, it is the latest of 56 cross-border tunnels found in the Southwest since the onset of additional guards and fencing aboveground after Sept. 11, 2001.
Over 50 tunnels? Wow. Like any man-made underground forts this really sparks my interest so I started poking around. Here are some of the fruits of my Googling labor:
- There are also tunnels along the U.S. Canadian border.
- WikiP has a good overview of smuggling tunnels around the world.
- Read this awesome post about the tunnel cops of the Border Patrol (also via BLDGBLOG)
- The NY Times also reported about a tunnel with some nice amenities last year.
- And here is some video of a border tunnel via a CNN report.
Very scary and interesting, now if you’ll excuse me I will be checking my yard for tunnel entrances.
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