A secret tunnel discovered on the US-Mexico border that allows access from Ciudad Juarez to the Mexican city of El Paso may be sealed by Mexican authorities, according to an army official who spoke to the news on Saturday, adding that its construction was being looked into.
Discovered on January 10 by US and Mexican security agencies, the tunnel measures approximately 300 meters ( 1, 000 feet ) in length on the Mexican side and is equipped with lighting, ventilation and is reinforced to prevent collapses.
Hidden in a storm drainage system running between both cities, its access is about 1.8 m high and 1.2 m wide ( 6 feet high and 4 feet wide ), making for easy passage of persons or contraband, said General Jose Lemus, commander of Ciudad Juarez’s defense garrison, which is guarding the tunnel.
The train’s building “must have taken a long time… it could have been one or two times”, Lemus told investigators, declining to give information about how much it had been operating as well as its probable engineers and providers.
He claimed that the Mexican Attorney General’s Office would be in charge of looking into the case and would be able to determine whether there had been any collusion by the authorities because it had been constructed without their knowledge.
Lemus added that human traffickers discussed facts about the life and location of the tunnel on social media platforms like TikTok.
Both sides of the US-Mexico borders have increased security measures ahead of Donald Trump‘s opening, as the returning Republican has pledged a large imprisonment of immigrants shortly after he takes office.
In the state of Chihuahua, which includes Ciudad Juarez, authorities reported a fire in a temporary camp for undocumented migrants, which led to the evacuation of 39 adults and 17 minors, according to the state police.
Some of the migrants who were camping there allegedly started the fire, according to the Mexican newspaper Reforma, as they fought immigration authorities ‘ attempts to detain them and transport them to Mexico City for further deportation.
AFP contacted the National Institute of Migration for comment, but the organization did not respond.
