New drug tunnel discovered under Arizona-Mexico border

Authorities discovered this tunnel with 198 bricks of cocaine in it on Tuesday

More than $6 million in cocaine found

From Terry Frieden
CNN Justice Department Producer

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Federal agents discovered a tunnel underneath the Nogales, Arizona, border with Mexico and said it was used to smuggle millions of dollars worth of cocaine, the U.S. Customs Service announced Tuesday.

Customs and Drug Enforcement Agency agents followed an underground path from a concrete storm trough to a 500-foot-long sewer pipe to a 25-foot-long, hand-dug tunnel to the front room of a vacant residence about three-quarters of a mile north of the border.

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"One-hundred ninety-eight bricks were found in the home, leading us to believe this was an active tunnel still being used very recently," Customs spokesman Roger Maier in El Paso told CNN.

The bricks weighed 840 pounds and had an estimated wholesale value of $6.5 million.

Maier said the tunnel was no more than 6 feet underground, adding that it was not big enough for a person to stand in.

"This is not a very advanced form of engineering at all," he said. "It's a real crude type of tunnel, similar to what an animal would burrow."

The private home was vacant when agents discovered the tunnel. No arrests have been made.

This marked the sixth time since 1995 that authorities have discovered a tunnel used to smuggle drugs under the U.S.-Mexican border in the Nogales area. All had in some way used the underground public utility system, which extends from Nogales in the Mexican state of Sonora to Nogales, Arizona.

"We found the first in 1995, then three more in '98, one last year, and now this one," said Maier. "It's certainly possible there are still others out there."

Another tunnel was discovered in 1999 between Naco, Sonora, and Naco, Arizona. In that case, DEA agents seized $1.5 million in cash and 2,600 pounds of cocaine.

13 charged in tunnel drug smuggling scheme
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Drug Enforcement Agency
U.S. Customs

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