Border securityTunnels under U.S.-Mexico border growing national security threat

Published 23 August 2010

There is growing problem along the U.S.-Mexico border: tunnels which connect the bad guys on both sides of the border; in the past several years, the number of border tunnels has increased 63 percent, and U.S. and Mexican authorities use robots and radar to detect them

1 kilometer-long tunnel discovered by authorities // Source: smh.com.au

It is a growing national security threat. Border tunnels that connect the bad guys on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. NBCSanDiego’s Susan Taylor reports that Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), Border Patrol, and the Drug Enforcement Administration use robots and radar to detect the cross border tunnels, which are a haven for human and drug smuggling.

ICE officials say cooperation with both sides of the border is essential. “To really stop this threat of tunneling activity,” said Tim Durst, Assistant Special Agent, ICE, “We need cooperation of the government of Mexico.”

In the past several years, the number of border tunnels has increased 63 percent and DHS says Mexico’s president Felipe Calderon has pledged his support to crack down on this criminal activity.