A tunnel running 250 feet beneath the U.S.-Mexican border has been discovered fully kitted out with electricity, water pumps and ventilation.Authorities in Arizona said although they've found dozens of tunnels in Nogales, a city in Santa Cruz County since the 1990s, this one is by far the most sophisticated.
Chief border patrol agent Randy Hill said those who were building it had chiselled through solid rock and installed lighting and other equipment.
Border patrol found an entrance to the tunnel on May 2 in an abandoned building. An investigation has begun with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Mexican government.
The tunnel lies 15 feet beneath the ground and is three feet wide and five feet high.
Chief Hill said: 'This tunnel is more sophisticated than other recently discovered tunnels. They chiselled through solid rock and then installed electricity, lighting, water pumps, and ventilation.
'It is a prime example of the risks traffickers will take and the lengths they will go to smuggle contraband into our country.'
The state of Arizona straddles a heavily trafficked route for powerful Mexican cartels smuggling marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines into the U.S.
Security has been tightened along the shared border in recent years leaving drug smugglers no option but to burrow underground to try to evade detection. Read More
