The Most Incredible Drug Smuggling Tunnels Ever Discovered

human history is basically one long story of people creating borders and then subsequently fighting over those borders on the other hand history is also a story of others normally those with fewer guns going to Great Lengths to get across borders be it by going over around or through the fences walls or guard stations of course the hard of the warm makers have tried to keep people out erecting ever more elaborate boundaries those that have wanted to pass through have come up with new ways to infiltrate generally turning to the PS of least resistance thus smuggling tunnels have always been popular and are perhaps more popular today than they've ever been from those exceeding a kilometer in length beneath Mexico in the US to entire towns criss-crossed with countless tunnels in the UK these are some of the most incredible smuggling tunnels around the [Music] world the longest drug smuggling tunnel in history was discovered in mid 2019 courtesy of none other than Hakim El Chapo Guzman siloa cartel the Fain leader is serving life imprisonment but his cartel continues to operate without him pouring tens of millions of dollars into elaborate professionally made drug smuggling tunnels as with most drug tunnels or Narco tunnels in the US this one originated in Tiana and exited out into San Diego California what made this particular tunnel stand apart is that it stretched a staggering 1,313 M that's 4,300 ft making it the longest so far in the US and probably in the world the underground structure was so elaborate that it Incorporated a lift drainage system air ventilation system and high voltage electrical cables interestingly no drugs were found and no arrests were made suggesting that the cartel was aware authorities were closing in and abandon the operation as impressive as the record holding caloa cartel is it's only scratching the surface of the frankly staggering number of underground smuggling operations between Mexico and the US between 1990 and 2015 a total of 183 tunnels were discovered the majority of which were between Tiana and San Diego dozens more have been discovered since 2015 putting the upate total somewhere over 200 the tunnels vary drastically in terms of length and sophistication but needless to say the most elaborate downright impressive potentially requiring over a year of dedicated excavation from countless skilled workers perhaps most interesting is the number of tunnels has increased dramatically in recent years and part of the cause can be traced directly to the September 11th attacks drug trafficking had almost been exclusively through border checkpoints prior to 9/11 but with the increase in border security following the attacks drug traffickers were forced to change tactics simply but rather than risk facing the increased security at land borders it became easier to build underground tunnels of course it wasn't long before the US authorities caught onto The Smuggler new tunneling tactics there would have been rather difficult for them to ignore the sudden increase in Telltale sinkholes appearing near the border rapidly adapting to the new form of Border breaching us authorities green L A specialized team known as the tunnel task force the tunnel task force is now a permanent division of the United States border control primarily operating at the border between TOA and San Diego the team Works in conjunction with us Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the US border patrol task force the first report of the tunnel task force succeeding using radar-based tunnel detection technology seems to come from 2006 with a team assisting in the identification of a 1,148 meter that's about 3,800 ft long tunnel originating in a warehouse in Tiana and exiting into to a Mesa California two tons of marijuana were discovered at the time and several arrests were made in Mexico in this case the tunnel was suspected to be the work of the arano Felix drug Syndicate so with all of this being said confirmation that A specialized team is working on the problem and so many reports of Narco tunnels being found and closed you'd assume that the problem is well inh hand but no the Mexican drug cartels are nothing if not a prime example that the mythical Hydra is alive and well as one tunnel is closed it seems to simply be replaced by two more with the frequency of tunn only seeming to increase with each passing year a pair of tunnels also believed to be the work of the caloa cartel were also uncovered in November 2010 one coming in at 790 M that's 2,600 ft the tunnel also lay between Tiana and San Diego and was also surprisingly elaborate including reinforced walls and cemented floors around 36,000 kg of marijuana was confiscated between the two tunnels making this one of the biggest busts ever linked to underground smuggling a 3ft diameter 90 M long that's 295 fet long tunnel was discovered in Arizona in 2012 another was found nearby in February 2014 this second Narco tunnel was 147 M or 481 ft long and led to the confiscation of 270 kg of marijuana near the exit Point as well as another 21 kilos and a kilo of heroin inside the tunnel more Tiana to San Diego tunnels were discovered in 2020 and 2022 the 2020 tunnel was another Whopper coming in at 610 M 2,000 ft and included a functional rail system 590 kilos of cocaine 36 kilos of methamphetamine 7.7 kilos of heroin and, 1400 kg of marijuana and just under a kilo of fentol was seized the most recently discovered Mexico to us Narco tunnel was in 2022 a 650 M or 2,100 ft tunnel and was also uncovered with a whole load of drugs inside at this point you have to ask yourself if repeatedly cutting off the hydra's head is the solution to the problem or if perhaps US border control can come up with some new Innovative way to deal with border security like for example utilizing strategic attack bead and we actually have more on that later stay tuned while the southern border of the United States fights a seemingly endless battle against respawning Narco tunnels the northern border is a bit less busy in the smuggling Department in fact in the entire history of the United States and Canada only a single drug smuggling tunnel has ever been uncovered it also wasn't a very active tunnel given that authorities were pretty much aware of the whole operation from the beginning and even politely let the Smugglers finish digging before arresting everybody involved in 2005 an ambitious group built an elaborate tunnel from a greenhouse in Langley British Columbia to a living room in lyen Washington the work done was incredibly professional and diligent demonstrating an outstanding knowledge of subterranean structures that surpasses even the best efforts between Mexico and the US the tunnel ran for a total of 109 M 360 ft under a highway and was anywhere between 1 M and 3 M below the ground and Incorporated wooden support slats for the walls reinforced metal ceiling beams ventil and lighting authorities report that the tunnel took over a year to finish and confirmed that the intention of the Smugglers was to safely transport marijuana between Canada and the United States really with all that effort and nothing more Sinister than highgrade marijuana being smuggled it's a little difficult not to feel a touch of Sympathy for the group of British Columbia based Smugglers the combined forces special enforcement unit didn't see it that way though and Francis Deandra Raj Timothy woo and Jonathan Valenzuela were arrested not long after finishing their first delivery as for how the drug smuggling Trio were detected well as professional as they were in making a structurally sound underground tunnel they didn't seem to have much of a clue when it came to staying covert it turns out that building an elaborate tunnel requires the transportation of Timber and support beams to a location the transportation of mountains of Earth in the opposite direction all of this was unfortunately taking place in a small Greenhouse Hut and it wasn't long before someone found the endless train of activity suspicious Someone caught on tipped off the authorities and ultimately doomed the trio months before they even finished Kim Scoville director of Canada's border of Security Services Agency said we saw Lumber going in and soil coming out combined with the location of the building and its proximity to the Border it wasn't difficult to come to the conclusion that a likely tunnel was being constructed embarrassingly for the Smugglers the entire 6 months of the operation had been closely monitored by the cfseu in fact law enforcement had even bugged the exit house in Lyon Washington as well as the tunnel itself with video and audio equipment operators then simply sat back and watched the last months of construction before Sweeping in drawing out the arrest wasn't just sadism on the part of law enforcement it was simply better for authorities to let the Smugglers make their first delivery thereby allowing an arrest to be made on charges of drug smuggling rather than random tunnel building us Attorney John McKay said the presence of a tunnel on our northern border threatens the security of countries whether it is used to smuggle drugs Contraband or even terrorists he finished with a sick law enforcement burn they were smart enough to builders instigated a tunnel they weren't smart enough to not get caught also arrested in connection with the tunnel were two us citizens that were detained after the initial delivery this included a Twin Falls Idaho woman caught with 42 kilg of marijuana and a man on Interstate 90 with 49 kg the masterminds Raj Wu and Valenzuela were prosecuted federally in the US on charges of illegal drug transportation and their tunnel was destroyed there is currently no movie about this Trio and their tunnel and we put forward to the movie making community that perhaps there should be a similar situation to the Mexico US border dearle is unfolding between India and Bangladesh the 4,096 km fence between the two countries has been largely unsecure and easy to cross for decades having many remote unmonitored areas that allow infiltrators to simply walk across but in more recent years the Indian border security Force has been stepping up efforts many of the gaps are being gradually closed and Innovative new methods are being deployed to keep borders safe but as in the US The increased border security has resulted in a notable increase in smuggling tunnels the India Bangladesh smuggling tunnels hardly as elaborate as those between Mexico and America but their presence is still proving to be a growing nuisance helping cattle Smugglers drug smugglers and kidnappers re havoc on the bordering Villages of each region the longest discovered so far is an 80 M 262 ft long tunnel in the utter District of West Bengal the tunnel appeared soon after the completion of fencing in that region and was used primarily for the smuggling of laborers and cough syrup a BSF operative reported vigil has been tightened along the international border hence the Smugglers have taken building this tunnel to smuggle laborers from Bangladesh to India and addictive cough syrups from India to Bangladesh as alcohol is banned in the neighboring country cough syrup addiction is high which is smuggled from India 2021 saw a story unfold involving a man named dwah Hussein who was apparently kidnapped and taken through an expanded 200 met drainage Tunnel located in Karam janji Bangladesh his kidnappers allegedly called Hussein's family and demanded 500,000 Indian rupees for his release that's about $6,000 police arrested a and they believed to be linked to the kidnapping in a nearby Village and after replying pressure managed to secure the release of hin once returned hin guided police to a location in a remote wooded area explaining that the tunnel was used for various criminal activities including smuggling and kidnapping he elaborated that to his knowledge there are at least another 60 similar branches along the India Bangladesh border so with the BSG already facing a Monumental task keeping the above ground borders safe plus now having to deal with a Subterranean threat the Indian government has turned to a rather innovative solution it was announced recently that the BSG plans to install a vast network of beehives at strategic locations on the border thus making it difficult for Smugglers to pass without triggering a mass stinging attack with the attack bees making land borders more secure the BSG will then hopefully be free to focus on the tunnel situation attack bees may sound like a rather far-fetched idea but the plan really has been rather well thought out the project has been launched in The nardia District in West Bengal with a cooperation of the local populace the beehives are being in stored near flowering plants and locals of planting additional Gardens such as tssi aangi satuli ashwagandha and aloe vera so in conjunction with the honey produced by the bees the herbs will likely allow locals to generate income as they incorporate Warrior bee colonies into their livelihoods as far as the India Bangladesh border itself is concerned it was expected that the final sections of the fence would be completed this year but that seems unlikely due to various complications including land acquisition and the relocation of villages completion of the Border fences has seen delay after delay there are many areas that still lack border [Music] security this last one is a bit of a cheat given that Robin Hood's Bay doesn't feature a single tunnel but rather is itself a vast interconnected network of countless smuggling tunnels including one that reportedly ran from within the village out onto a nearby Marsh located in the North York Moors National Park sitting between Whitby and scarber Robin Hood's Bay is now not much more than a tourist attraction but go back to the 18th century and this little fishing Village was key in an elaborate Smugglers Network that spans the entire northeast coast of the United Kingdom it said that back in the day Contraband would arrive in Robin Hood's Bay be unloaded from a boat and make it the entire way through the village and out onto the cliffs without ever seeing daylight you can still access part of one of these smuggling routes today by entering kingsb Tunnel located beneath Bay Hotel the tunnel was originally for drainage but if you take a side passage you'll find yourself beneath the floorboards of a nearby property Smugglers once passed contrabands up into this building by hand or where it was quickly squired away from prying eyes or passed onto another Link in the Smugglers Network it's believed that dozens or even hundreds of similar smuggling routs existed in the bay in the 18th century though most now boarded up or have simply been lost as far as the name Robin Hood's Bay is concerned you'll be disappointed to learn that there is no evidence that the Sherwood Forest Legend ever resided in or even visited the village this isn't exactly surprising because Robin Hood's not real other than in folktales and in your imagination what is clear however is that Robin Hood Bay is not only incredibly old dating back 3,000 years but has virtually always acted as a key location in smuggling and piracy Louis count of Flanders mentions Robin UD Bay in a letter where he begs for the return of his pirate ship a reference dating to between 1322 and 1326 but what is it about this little village that made it such a Smuggler Hotpot well Above All Else Smuggler prize an isolated protected location with as easy access to the Sea as possible but as difficult to approach by land as possible Robin Hood Bay is such a location allowing easy approach by sea but being flanked on three sides by treacherous marshes even still it wasn't until the 18th century that the local smuggling business really kicked into high gear at that time the UK was locked in a war with Europe and as we know Wars are rather expensive taxes were imposed on luxury goods to cover costs resulting in items like tobacco gin and silk suddenly Falling Out Of Reach of the average person thus Smugglers quickly jumped on the opportunity they recognized Robin Hood's Bay as an existing smuggling Network for itting the flow of luxury goods and tapped in to establish Black Market routs if you're wondering why the villagers in Robin Hood Bay didn't step up and alert the authorities it's because virtually all of them were part of the smuggling Network it seems that throughout the history of the bay residents have always been Keen to step up and offer a helping hand so much so that the village thrived due to its solicit income it's important to keep in mind though that in the UK Smugglers were the ones providing cheap Goods making them the heroes in the eyes of the public hence Robin Hood's Bay really did live up to its name the Bay thrived throughout the 18th century grew rapidly and became widely known as the place to go for cheap goods and Good Times the village had all turned into a tourist Hot Spot by the 19th century and has more or less remained that way to this day of course you won't be getting access to cheap drugs or other imported goods there these days but you can still enjoy the Robin Hood's Bay smuggling tour [Music]

Channel: Sideprojects

Views: 193,339

Keywords: megaprojects, construction, engineering, projects, sideprojects, smuggling tunnel, drug tunnels from mexico to us, drug tunnel arizona, mexico drug cartel tunnels, people smuggling, cartel tunnel arizona, drug tunnel, arizona drugs tunnel, drug running, cartel tunnels, drug cartels, cartel tunnel, us border tunnel, migrant tunnel, arizona tunnel, drugs

Id: Barud2ClfC0

Length: 15min 28sec (928 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 02 2024