Crews in Juarez sealing cross-border tunnel found in El Paso
Update (January 27, 2025): Crews in Mexico have started sealing the tunnel.
JUAREZ, Chihuahua and EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- This morning, various federal agencies and construction crews were seen from the Juárez side of the border working and checking on the tunnel on the U.S. side of the border.
U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector confirmed to ABC-7 that they will be pouring concrete on the U.S. side of the tunnel today to prevent migrants and smugglers from using the tunnel for illicit activities.
"I can tell you the tunnel is going to be completely sealed from our side. That way again, we prevent anybody from going in," said USBP Agent Orlando Marrero-Rubio.
"People have to understand and we would like to educate our community on the dangers of crossing the border, and that's one of the biggest dangers; not only it's lack of space, lack of moving space, there's a lot of toxic material in those tunnels" Agent Marrero-Rubio added.
Those tunnels always connect to the storm drain system in El Paso where the water treatment plants use chlorine and other toxic gases that could be a hazard for anyone using them, even Confined Space Entry Team (CSET) agents.
Border Patrol says there's also methane gas down in the sewer and storm drain system.
"Our Confined Space Entry Team (CSET) does inspections monthly to identify the routes used by Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). They often find articles of clothing, and cell phones that are left behind, unfortunately, we have had the experience of finding people that have perished, deceased people," Agent Marrero-Rubio said.
"Different options or different situations is that sometimes the water treatment plant releases the water into the river and they don't know that people are inside the storm drain and unfortunately people have drowned inside those tunnels," Agent Marrero-Rubio added.
On Wednesday, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) sent a statement saying:
“Special agents with HSI El Paso and HSI Ciudad Juarez continue working closely with our law enforcement partners on both sides of the border to try to identify the individuals and transnational criminal network responsible for the construction and operation of the cross-border tunnel discovered last week. The tunnel will be sealed, but our criminal investigation will continue.
The safety of our communities, our country, and the integrity of our borders depend on the vigilance of our citizens. The public’s contribution is vital in strengthening border security and protecting the well-being of our nation.”
Border Patrol also said those types of tunnels can be fully engaged in water at any given point which represents a very dangerous journey to anybody inside those tunnels that connect with storm drains and to the City of El Paso's sewer system.
"You got to understand, we are dealing with transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) they'll do anything or everything they want or they need to do to avoid being detected," Agent Marrero-Rubio said.
"Our agents here are specialty units that are always inspecting storm drains and grounds. It doesn't matter if it's the highest mountain in the sector or even below the ground; we will always find them, we will always detect them, we will always apprehend them and bring them to justice," Agent Marrero-Rubio added.
According to Border Patrol El Paso Sector, they have seen over 20,500 apprehensions in Fiscal Year 2025 which started in October of last year. It is a 53% decrease compared to Fiscal Year 2024 same time frame.
This month, Border Patrol Agents are seeing an average of about 160 migrant encounters daily in the sector.
