Federal law enforcement officials are increasingly concerned terrorists may be using tunnels built by drug smugglers to breach the U.S.-Mexico border, Bloomberg News reports.
The financial newswire service reported yesterday that federal authorities have discovered six tunnels in nine months along the nation’s southwest border, compared to the discovery of 11 tunnels in the past decade, according to Drug Enforcement Administration chief Asa Hutchinson.
“The tunnels can be used for contraband as well as drugs,” Hutchinson said at a briefing with reporters.
President Bush has nominated Hutchinson to serve as undersecretary for border and transportation in the newly formed Department of Homeland Security.
In February 2002, federal authorities found a 1,200-foot tunnel on a ranch some 70 miles east of San Diego. The tunnel’s opening in Mexico was about 200 feet from the border, Bloomberg reported.
The tunnel was framed with wooden planks and included a rail system, most likely to transport large quantities of drugs, federal officials believe.
The DEA said the tunnel was one of the most sophisticated ever discovered by law enforcement.
Hutchinson said a number of the tunnels cost between $1 million and $2 million to build.
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