Rob2687 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- Federal agents have shut down a drug-smuggling tunnel built under the U.S.-Canadian border north of Seattle -- the first such tunnel discovered on the nation's northern border, federal officials said Thursday.Authorities had been monitoring construction of the tunnel for eight months and sealed it shortly after it opened Wednesday, making three to five arrests in the process, a government employee who had been briefed by local law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The employee spoke Wednesday on the condition of anonymity because the news had not been made public. A news release Thursday morning from U.S. Attorney John McKay confirmed the tunnel, calling it the first found on the northern border. A news conference was scheduled for later Thursday, and no further details were given. Federal authorities have discovered at least 12 tunnels along the U.S.-Mexico border since September 11, 2001, some of them only partially completed. Last year, Homeland Security began using technology developed by geophysicists to pinpoint suspicious terrain. The U.S.-Canada tunnel ran from a greenhouse on the Canadian side to within about 100 yards of an abandoned house on the U.S. side, 300 feet from the border, according to the government source. Michael Milne, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, declined to comment. The source said the investigation was handled largely by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI, but FBI agent Roberta A. Burroughs in Seattle said it was "another federal agency's investigation." The tunnel was found north of Lynden, about 90 miles north of Seattle. Source I saw the video on TV. It's entirely concrete re-enforced and looks like its large enough for someone to crouch in. Pretty crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Behelit Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
User6060 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 that's pretty sneaky :ninja: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leaving_ Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 That's classic, a tunnel - I wonder, had there been multiple tunnels, would they have started naming them Tom, Dick and Harry? Too bad it was located by the authorities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mugwhump Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Says a lot for the "War on Terror" when a bunch of drug dealers can make a concrete-reinforced tunnel across the border of our nation. I can only imagine how trivial it is for a hardline terrorist to get in. What a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPhun Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 forget about the terrorists, what about all the chronic we will never smoke because of this? :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kl33per Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Says a lot for the "War on Terror" when a bunch of drug dealers can make a concrete-reinforced tunnel across the border of our nation. I can only imagine how trivial it is for a hardline terrorist to get in. What a joke. 586248464[/snapback] Did you even read the article? They let them build the damn tunnel, and then arrested them. Jeez, I wish people would actually read things and think about what they're going to say before opening their (digital :laugh: ) mouths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suren Posted August 5, 2005 Share Posted August 5, 2005 LYNDEN, Washington -- Federal agents have shut down an elaborate, 360-foot drug-smuggling tunnel dug underneath the U.S.-Canadian border -- the first such passageway discovered along the nation's northern edge and allegedly masterminded by a man of Sri Lankan origin, agency reports said. Five people were arrested on marijuana trafficking charges, U.S. Attorney John McKay said in this border town about 90 miles north of Seattle. The tunnel ran from a quonset hut on the Canadian side and ended under the living room of a home on the U.S. side, 300 feet from the border. Built with lumber, concrete and metal reinforcing bars, it was equipped with lights and ventilation, and ran underneath a highway. The passageway was 31/2 to 4 feet high and wide, and ran anywhere from 3 to 10 feet below ground, authorities said. "They were smart enough to build a sophisticated tunnel. They weren't smart enough to not get caught," McKay said. McKay said authorities had been monitoring construction of the tunnel for six months and sealed it shortly after it opened Wednesday. Although numerous smuggling tunnels have been found on the U.S.-Mexican border, this was the first discovered along the border with Canada, McKay said. Canadian authorities learned of the tunnel in February and alerted U.S. officials. Francis Devandra Raj, 30; Timothy Woo, 34; and Johnathan Valenzuela, 27, of Surrey, British Columbia, were arrested. They were charged with conspiracy to import and distribute marijuana. Raj owns the property under the quonset hut, authorities said. Sri Lanka state radio SLBC quoted a website as saying Raj was suspected to have LTTE connections. On July 16, two other people were arrested separately in Washington state for transporting marijuana that had come through the tunnel, said Greg Gassett, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent. One was a woman who authorities said had 93 pounds of marijuana in her vehicle when she was stopped. The other was a man pulled over with 110 pounds of the drug. On July 2, agents entered the home on the U.S. side to examine the tunnel. They later installed cameras and listening devices in the home. Source:Dailymirror Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Derf Veteran Posted August 26, 2005 Veteran Share Posted August 26, 2005 Aug. 25, 2005. 07:59 PM U.S. officials rip apart drug tunnel from B.C. FROM CANADIAN PRESS LYNDEN, Wash. ? U.S. officials began destruction today of a tunnel that they say a criminal organization thought would be a ``gold mine" in the smuggling of drugs from British Columbia to Washington state. A backhoe cut through the roadway above the tunnel near the Lynden border crossing, south of Vancouver, where cement barriers will be placed then buried with gravel. A cement-like mixture will fill the rest of the tunnel that ends under a Lynden home. "It should demonstrate to others that might think of doing the same that we'll find out about it, like we did in this case, beforehand and we will make sure we shut it down," said Rodney Benson, special agent in charge of the Seattle Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Agency. "This tunnel will be filled with concrete and will never be used again." Benson said those arrested when the DEA raided the operation last month were shocked when authorities moved in. "This was going to be their gold mine," he said, "Their intention was to move thousand and thousands of pounds of narcotics through that tunnel." Five people, including three men from Surrey, B.C., have been charged in the U.S. with various drug and smuggling offences, and face minimum sentences of 10 years to life. Benson said more arrests are expected. The first covert tunnel ever discovered between Canada and the U.S. was shut down in July by police from both sides of the border after authorities monitored its construction. The 110-metre tunnel stretched between a metal hut in Langley, B.C., to a point underneath the living room of the house in Lynden, where police had installed cameras and microphones. An engineer for the city of Langley was impressed with the tunnel's construction. "The tunnel is surprisingly well built, for a bunch of amateurs," said Clive Roberts, manager of design and construction in Langley's engineering department. Next week, engineers on the Canadian side of the tunnel will close it as they would an old mining shaft, by drilling holes in to the tunnel and pumping in a mix similar to cement. RCMP Insp. Al Mullin, who watched the backhoe dig down to the tunnel, said there a lot of planning went into its construction. "There was a significant amount of investment, financially . . . buying property on both sides of the border," he said. American authorities say a process is underway to seize the house in Lynden where the tunnel ended. Anna Banks, who is a neighbour to the property on the Canadian side of the border, said she was shocked when they announced the discovery. "I never thought anybody would do it, because there's border patrol here all the time," she said. The structure was so sophisticated that it was equipped with electricity, ventilation and sump pumps to ensure water didn't gather. The builders had also installed a small cart to allow them to move freight or people from one end to the other. The U.S. Justice Department said 42 kilograms of pot were transported through the tunnel and then loaded into a van last month. The van drove to a shopping mall in Bellingham, Wash., where the marijuana was loaded into another vehicle. The pot was seized after the second vehicle was stopped by the Washington State Patrol. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...id=968332188854 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toxikk Veteran Posted August 27, 2005 Veteran Share Posted August 27, 2005 forget about the terrorists, what about all the chronic we will never smoke because of this??:(( 586252170[/snapback] HAHAHA. ten years to life for bringing drugs into america... the government wants a monopoly. sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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