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| Sunday, 6 March 2005 |
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U.S.-Mexico drug tunnels growing security risk MONTERREY, Mexico, Saturday, U.S. authorities are finding an increased number of drug tunnels under the border with Mexico and warn they could be used to sneak terrorists into the United States. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and Border Patrol sources said on Friday they found two tunnels under the border in the past week, bringing the total to 13 in the past four years. The figure compares to 19 tunnels or uncompleted shafts discovered at points along the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border during the whole of the previous decade, according to ICE figures. "Tunnel activity on the border is on the increase, and it represents a major vulnerability to national security," Lauren Mack, a spokeswoman for ICE in San Diego, said by telephone. "We know that they have existed for a long time for drug smuggling, but we are concerned that they might be used to smuggle terrorists or terror weapons into the United States," she added. The Central Intelligence Agency warned last month that al Qaeda operatives had considered sneaking into the United states from Mexico. More than a million illegal immigrants - nearly all from Mexico and Central America - were caught crossing the border last year, and many more get through. |
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