Pubdate: Wed, 08 Jul 2015
Source: Sun, The (Yuma, AZ)
Copyright: 2015 Associated Press
Contact: http://www.yumasun.com/sections/opinion/submit-letters/
Website: http://www.yumasun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1258

DRUG BUNDLES BLOCK PIPE NEAR BORDER

TUCSON (AP) - Authorities in the border city of Nogales, Arizona, 
believe smugglers were using an international sewage line to 
transport drugs into the U.S. from Mexico when the pipe became 
clogged, sending gallons of waste through an illegal tunnel and into 
a house and local businesses.

City officials discovered waste coming out of the house near the 
border with Mexico on Sunday. City Manager Shane Dille said there was 
so much waste that it was oozing from the front door and side of the house.

The international pipeline runs through Nogales, Arizona, and 
Nogales, Sonora, and carries 10 million gallons of waste each day, 
Dille said. It was connected to a tunnel that led to a house on a 
Nogales street near the border. He said a video feed showed several 
bundles that had gotten clogged in the sewage line, forcing waste to 
travel through an underground tunnel connected to the house.

"It appears that they couldn't stay up with the flow of the sewer 
line and bundles, and created a blockage in the line. The sewer has 
to go somewhere, so it started to come out of the hole that they 
made," Dille said.

The house is likely a complete loss and two nearby businesses were 
affected by the spillage, Dille said. He said city officials have not 
been able to reach the tunnel or sewer line yet to extract what he 
believes are drug bundles.

Drug smugglers have been known to get creative in their attempts to 
get drugs into the U.S. In one case, smugglers built a ramp on the 
tall steel border fence and attempted to drive a sport utility 
vehicle over it, but failed when the vehicle got stuck atop the fence.

But this is the first time in recent memory that criminal 
organizations have used sewage lines in Nogales to transport drugs, Dille said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom