Drug smuggling tunnel shut down

GUARDS on the US-Canadian border have shut down an elaborate 360-foot drug smuggling tunnel.

The Canadians became suspicious last February when they noticed loads of dirt coming out of the boarded-up hut and loads of construction materials going in.

Acting on a hunch that the activity wasn’t legitimate, the guards tipped off US investigators, who found that the hut was a starting point for a cross-border tunnel that ended in the living room of a house. Five people have been arrested on marijuana trafficking charges.

“They were smart enough to build a sophisticated tunnel,” US Attorney John McKay said in the border town of Lynden about 90 miles north of Seattle. “They weren’t smart enough to not get caught.”

The tunnel ran from the hut on the Canadian side and ended under the living room of a home on the US side, 300 feet from the border. Built with timber, concrete and metal bars, the tunnel was equipped with lights and ventilation, and ran underneath a road.

The passageway was up to 4ft high and wide, and ran anywhere from 3ft to 10ft below ground, authorities said. US officials were trying to locate the owner of the house on the US side.

“We know who that individual is. We are very interested in speaking with him,” Mr McKay said.

Authorities had been monitoring construction of the tunnel for six months and had allowed its operators to make at least a few trips - all under surveillance - before sealing the passage on Wednesday, Mr McKay said.

Although numerous smuggling tunnels have been found on the US-Mexican border, this was the first discovered along the border with Canada, he said.

On July 2, US agents entered the home on the American side to examine the passageway.

They later installed cameras and listening devices in the home.

“We were in there before it was completed. There was not a day they did anything that we weren’t assessing them,” said Greg Gassett, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent.

Francis Devandra Raj, 30; Timothy Woo, 34; and Jonathan Valenzuela, 27, of Surrey, British Columbia, were arrested yesterday.

They were charged with conspiracy to import and distribute marijuana.