By Ramon Bracamontes
El Paso Times
EL PASO, Texas — The drug-smuggling tunnel found two months ago under the Rio Grande is secure, but it has not been permanently shuttered, federal officials said Wednesday.
The tunnel, about 130 feet long and 2 feet wide and 2 feet high, was found June 26 by Border Patrol agents. The tunnel stretches from a drainage ditch in Ju?rez to a storm drain in El Paso. The tunnel is adjacent to the Bridge of the Americas.
U.S. Border Patrol Agent Ramiro Cordero said details of how the tunnel will be permanently closed or blocked will be available next week. The Border Patrol is responsible for securing the tunnel.
“It is under constant surveillance right now,” Cordero said. “As to how it will be filled in or closed or taken care, we do not know yet.”
Sally Spener, spokeswoman for the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission, said the tunnel’s opening is on the concrete canal lining of the Rio Grande that was built by the commission. Water commission engineers have ruled the canal is stable.
“It has to get filled in, but from an engineering standpoint, there is no urgency to it,” she said.
The tunnel was found by agents after they became suspicious of noises coming from the area. Agents said they used electronic devices to find the tunnel.
The small, crudely made tunnel was just wide enough for people to crawl from Mexico into the U.S. Agents discovered 200 pounds of marijuana inside and arrested a 17-year-old Mexican boy found nearby.
It is the first smuggling tunnel found in El Paso.
Copyright 2010 El Paso Times, a MediaNews Group Newspaper