Secret border tunnel is found by drones in terrifying indicator of stealth super gangs sneaking into the US
Another secret cartel tunnel connecting Mexico to Arizona has been discovered by authorities, a grim reminder of the violent reality that lies beneath the sand.
The tunnel was found during a joint investigation between US Customs and Border Patrol and the Sonora State Police in Mexico using drone technology, according to Mexican authorities.
The tunnel – which is incomplete – was discovered in San Luis Rio Colorado near the border wall.
Mexican police say it was a ‘narco tunnel’ used to bring drugs and potentially people into the US, according to AZ Family.
The discovery marks the third tunnel found near Yuma, Arizona, in 2024.
A tunnel believed to be for the Mexican drug cartels for narco and human smuggling operations was discovered by a drone near Yuma, Arizona.This marks the third time a tunnel was discovered in Arizona in 2024.The DEA says Sinaloa Cartel controls Az area.https://t.co/vjfMRgFewl
— Robbie Mouton (@mcgmouton57) January 6, 2025
It is unclear which drug gang the tunnel belongs to, but the Sinaloa cartel frequently use these underground passages across the Southwest to smuggle drugs into the States, according to the DEA’s 2024 drug threat assessment.
Many of their tunnels are ‘not built by the cartel, but are part of the border cities’ sewage and water systems.’
However, the Sinaloa Cartel are also known to carve out passageways beneath homes on the Mexico side of the border.
‘The Sinaloa Cartel exerts near-total control over the border region south of Arizona, giving the cartel easy access to the San Luis Rio Colorado and Nogales [ports of entry],’ the DEA said.
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said: ‘At the heart of the synthetic drug crisis are the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels and their associates, who DEA is tracking world-wide. The suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and money launderers all play a role in the web of deliberate and calculated treachery orchestrated by these cartels.
‘DEA will continue to use all available resources to target these networks and save American lives.’
Drug-related deaths claimed the lives of more than 107,000 Americans in 2022, according to the CDC.
Fentanyl was responsible for roughly 70 percent of those deaths.
The DEA has seized nearly 30,000 pounds of fentanyl power and 79 million pills in 2023. The pill quantity alone is nearly three times as much as 2021 numbers, according to the agency.
Most of the meth sold in the US is manufactured in Mexico, and the drug has become increasingly more potent in recent years.
The spread of the cartel also coincides with that of a violent Venezuelan gang across the US, with experts warning the mobsters could have a foothold in more than half the country by February this year.
By December 2024, Tren de Aragua, which has been dubbed the ‘epitome of evil’ and ‘MS-13 on steroids’, is already operating in 18 states.
This includes some of the most remote corners of the America in Colorado, North Dakota, Montana, Nevada and Wyoming. The bloodthirsty criminals also maintain strongholds in major cities across Texas as well as New York and Chicago.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, former immigration and customs enforcement director for Colorado and Wyoming, John Fabbricatore, said: ‘We’re going to start hearing stories about them getting arrested everywhere.
‘They’re in 17 states now. I wouldn’t be surprised if by February, that’s higher than 25.’
Known as TdA to law enforcement, the gang originated in a Venezuelan prison.
Members of the South American mafia have since crept into the US via the southern border, hidden among the one million Venezuelan migrants who have entered the country under the Biden administration.
They can often be identified by telltale tattoos, including a train (‘tren’ is Spanish for train), a crown, a clock and an AK-47.
The majority of arrests were on charges of robbery and grand larceny, but the gangsters’ rap sheets also include assault and car theft raps, the data revealed.
The gang has also been recruiting children gang members as young as 11.
The notorious organized crime group has reportedly enlisted a squad of children as young as 11 known as the ‘Little Devils of 42nd Street’ to rob shops and members of the street with guns and knives in New York City.
Police said more than 800 gang-related crimes have taken place this year in the Big Apple, which has doubled from 2023.
