Three uncompleted tunnels that ran under the US/Mexico border in the city of Nogales were recently discovered by Mexican and U.S. police.
So far, no one knows who or which group built the tunnels, which were obviously used to smuggle drugs into the U.S. The tunnels are several hundred yards away from each other.
Since Nogales, a city of about 200,000, is 60 miles south of Tucson, Arizona, it has been a popular tourist destination. But since it is a major drug smuggling route with its share of drug trafficking violence, tourism has waned in recent years. The city was placed on the U.S. State Department’s travel alert last year as it had experienced shootouts in daylight in public areas.
"Criminals have followed and harassed U.S. citizens traveling in their vehicles" along Route 15 between Nogales and Hermosillo, according to the State Department.
In the past 20 years, about 75 tunnels have been discovered along the Mexican-U.S. border. Most recently, a sophisticated, air-conditioned passageway was uncovered in September. (See Ground Report article, “Mexico cross-border tunnel diggers caught in the act.”)