ICE agents close drug smuggling tunnel in Nogales
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Courtesy US Customs & Border Protection. Image by US Customs & Border Protection.
Web Producer: Brian Pryor
NOGALES, Ariz. (KGUN9-TV) - ICE agents have shut down an active 90 foot drug smuggling tunnel under the international border of Mexico and the United States.
Agents were conducting surveillance around the Dennis DeConcini port of entry and noticed a white box truck parked near the pedestrian gate. Those agents followed the vehicle and pulled it over, finding 2,621 pounds of pot.
The investigation led agents to find the tunnel located underneath the pavement near the pedestrian gate. Officials say the tunnel is 90 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet tall and an estimated 4.5 feet underneath the ground.
Investigators say the tunnel was equipped with electricity, ventilation tubing, and was shored up with two by fours and plywood. The plug for the tunnel was held up by a large floor jack.
Authorities arrested three men inside of the truck, 19 year-old Anthony Maytorena of Nogales Sonora, 18 year-old Jorge Vargas Ruiz of Nogales Arizona, and a juvenile Mexican national. All three men faced a judge today in federal court.
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