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Here in Israel, we know all too well the dangers cross-border tunnels pose. It seems we are not alone in realising this danger. More than 600 kg of of cannabis smuggled via tunnel from Mexico to California was seized in Los Angeles on 28 February this year. US authorities have discovered more than 75 tunnels along the US-Mexico border in the last five years.
The tunnel in question extended about 275 m into Mexico and and some 91 m into a lot on US soil that was purchased last April. A three-bedroom house was built on the property by December, and the smuggling operation commenced.
“This house and tunnel were constructed under the watchful eye of law enforcement,” said Laura Duffy, US attorney for the Southern District of California.
Investigators were apparently aware that Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, led by the infamous Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, were looking to construct more smuggling routes in the area.
“For the builders, the financiers and the operators of these passageways, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. We will seize your drugs and your tunnel before you even have a chance to use it,” said Duffy.
The investigation into the operation is “still very much ongoing,” according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations special agent Drew Shaw, but many other tunnels are being used undetected, and new ones are being dug all the time.
This time, law enforcement agencies prevented harm, but the construction of a tunnel in a residential area was bound to draw attention. The situation is far more risky when the tunnels are dug not for passage, but as combat tools lying in wait.
