Drug Smugglers Use Sewage Line—Until It Clogs

Waste was oozing out of house on Mexican border
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 7, 2015 8:07 PM CDT
Drug Smugglers Use Sewage Line—Until It Clogs
   (Shutterstock)

Authorities in the border city of Nogales, Arizona, believe smugglers were using an international sewage line to transport drugs into the US from Mexico. The big clue came when the pipe got clogged, sending gallons of waste through an illegal tunnel and into a house and local businesses. City officials discovered waste coming out of the house near the border with Mexico on Sunday. City Manager Shane Dille said there was so much waste it was oozing from the front door and side of the house. The international pipeline runs through Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, and carries 10 million gallons of waste each day. It was connected to a tunnel that led to a house on a Nogales street near the border.

He said a video feed showed several bundles that had gotten clogged in the sewage line, forcing waste to travel through an underground tunnel connected to the house. "It appears that they couldn't stay up with the flow of the sewer line and bundles, and created a blockage in the line. The sewer has to go somewhere, so it started to come out of the hole that they made," Dille said. The house is likely a complete loss and two nearby businesses were affected by the spillage. City officials have not been able to reach the tunnel or sewer line yet to extract any drug bundles. (More drug smuggling stories.)

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