MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexican authorities have located a small, clandestine border tunnel between the northern state of Sonora and the United States, officials announced Wednesday.
A Mexican government statement said the discovery in Nogales, which is across from Nogales, Arizona, was the result of a search of storm drains following the recent find of another tunnel in the city.
The latest tunnel was said to have had a narrow diameter of 14 inches (35 centimeters). It was about 10 feet (3 meters) deep and 10 feet (3 meters) long, emerging on the U.S. side, where the exit was concealed by scrub. National Guard troops found wooden supports and metal ladders.
It was in the central neighborhood of Fundo Legal, which lies just west of a principal official border crossing.
As described in the statement, the tunnel was far more rudimentary than other clandestine cross-border tunnels discovered in the past, some of which have covered over 100 feet (30 meters) with sophisticated lighting, ventilation and tracks to move drugs in large quantities.
The Mexican government said it had contacted U.S. Customs and Border Protection regarding the sealing of the tunnel on the U.S. side.
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