Mexican authorities will seal a clandestine tunnel discovered on the American border linking Ciudad Juarez to the Texan city of El Paso, a military official announced on Saturday, specifying that an investigation was underway into its construction.
Discovered on January 10 by US and Mexican security services, the tunnel extends about 300 meters on the Mexican side and is equipped with lighting, ventilation and a support system to prevent collapses.
Concealed in a rainwater collector between the two cities, its access measures about 1.8 meters high by 1.2 meters wide, allowing easy passage of people or goods, said General Jose Lemus, commander of the military garrison of Ciudad Juarez which monitors the tunnel.
The construction of the tunnel “must have taken a long time… perhaps one or two years,” the general told journalists, refusing to specify how long it had been operational and who might be the builders and users.
He said the Mexican attorney general’s office was in charge of the investigation and should determine whether there was complicity on the part of the authorities, as the tunnel was built without them realizing it.
Jose Lemus also revealed that clues about the existence and location of the tunnel had been suggested by smugglers on social media, including TikTok.
-On the eve of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, both sides of the US-Mexico border have stepped up security measures, with the Republican promising a mass expulsion of illegal migrants upon taking office.
In Chihuahua state, which includes Ciudad Juarez, authorities reported a fire at a temporary camp for undocumented migrants, leading to the evacuation of 39 adults and 17 minors, according to local police.
According to the Mexican daily Reforma, migrants themselves set fire to the camp to resist their arrest, while immigration services were trying to transfer them to Mexico City before their expulsion from the country.
The National Migration Institute did not respond to requests from AFP.
