Border Tribe's Land a Drug Smuggler's Paradise

Elaborate smuggling tunnel to Arizona has electricity, ventilation system

(NEWSER) - The US Border Patrol has uncovered one of the biggest and most sophisticated smuggling tunnels under the Mexican border it has ever seen, CNN reports. The 83-foot tunnel to Arizona from Nogales, Mexico, was still under construction when it was found after a tipoff from somebody who heard construction sounds. Authorities believe the work was being financed by the Gulf Cartel of drug traffickers. More»

(NEWSER) - Arizona’s three state universities are following the State Department and attempting to dissuade students from spending spring break in Mexican border towns, a traditional pastime, because of drug-associated violence there, the AP reports. One federal official called the warning “sage advice,” noting “documented violence, attacks, killings” and gunfire in public places. “Innocent people have been caught up in that collateral damage,” he said. More»

Transferred cash, drugs across international borders

(NEWSER) - The New York Times last month revealed that undercover US agents have laundered and smuggled millions of dollars for Mexico's drug cartels—and today the paper shines a light on one such operation, in which federal agents helped one drug trafficker and his Colombian supplier move cash and cocaine across international borders. Over a period of months in 2007, US and Mexican agents worked with that supplier—Harold Mauricio Poveda-Ortega, aka "The Rabbit"—who fed cocaine to cartel leader Arturo Beltran Levya, the New York Times reports. More»

Only New Mexico's shows up to meet Mexican counterparts

(NEWSER) - The governors of border states in the US and Mexico have been holding a conference to discuss cross-border issues every year for 30 years, but the tradition appears to be withering, the AP finds. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez was the only one of the four US border state governors to make an appearance this year. Arizona's Jan Brewer and California's Jerry Brown cited pressing issues to deal with in their states, while Rick Perry is away from Texas and on the campaign trail. More»

Underground drug freeway fitted with lights, water pumps, ventilation

(NEWSER) - Investigators have discovered a sophisticated drug cartel tunnel linking Mexico to Arizona, complete with lights and a ventilation systems. The tunnel connects an abandoned building in Noglales, Mexico, to Nogales, Arizona, and is 15 feet underground. "This tunnel is more sophisticated than others," said an investigator. "They chiseled through solid rock and then installed electricity, lighting, water pumps, and ventilation. It's a prime example of the risks traffickers will take and the lengths they will go to smuggle contraband into our country." More»