smuggling tunnel

{{Short description|Secret passages used for the smuggling of goods and people}}

File:$3 Million Marijuana Bust Leads to Discovery of Sophisticated Smuggling Tunnel (16034836023).jpg tunnel in Arizona]]

Smuggling tunnels are secret passages used for the smuggling of goods and people. The term is also used where the tunnels are built in response to a siege.

Europe

=Bosnia =

File:Sarajevo tunnel 3.jpg

The Sarajevo Tunnel operated during the Siege of Sarajevo as a passage underneath the no-man's land of the city's (closed) airport, providing a vital smuggling link for the beleaguered city residents. Guns were smuggled into the city and people were smuggled out. After the Bosnian War, the Sarajevo Tunnel Museum was built onto the historic private house whose cellar served as the entrance to Sarajevo Tunnel.

;In popular culture

It features in the British film Welcome to Sarajevo (1997).
A similar tunnel in an unknown city, probably Belgrade, features in a dark Serbian satire of conflict, Underground (1995).

= Germany =

More than 70 tunnels were used to smuggle people under the Berlin Wall between West Berlin and East Berlin.{{cite news |last=Grieshaber |first=Kirsten |date=2019-11-07 |title=Escape tunnel underneath Berlin Wall opens to public |url=https://apnews.com/a44d8c9d61cc49f2b3bb88253323adb5 |work=Associated Press |access-date=2019-01-07}}

= Ukraine–Slovakia =

A 700-meter smuggling tunnel with a narrow gauge railway was revealed in July 2012 between Uzhhorod, Ukraine, and Vyšné Nemecké, Slovakia, at the border of Schengen Area. The tunnel used professional mining and security technologies. It was used primarily for smuggling of cigarettes.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-slovakia-ukraine-tunnel-idUSBRE86I0ZO20120719 |title=Slovaks find railway smuggling tunnel to Ukraine |website=Reuters |date=19 July 2012 |access-date=2014-03-01}}

=United Kingdom=

Many villages on the southern coast of England have a local legend of a smugglers' tunnel, although the entrances to most of the actual smugglers' tunnels have been lost or bricked up.

Some tunnel stories turn out to be plausible, such as the tunnel at Hayle in Cornwall, which seems to have been built specifically for smuggling. However, tunnels often double as a storm drain or some other functional channel, or else as an extension of a natural fissure in the rock as at Methleigh and Porthcothan,{{cite web|url=http://www.smuggling.co.uk/history_hiding.html |title=Hiding places where smugglers concealed contraband |website=Smuggling.co.uk |access-date=2014-03-01}} but tunnels and caches (both wholly excavated and formed by extending natural formations) are more commonplace where covert landings in areas with few sheltered beaches exposed smugglers to the attentions of the Revenue Men.

While many sites are rudimentary, extensive workings have been found which show evidence of skillful excavation, strongly implying the assistance of tin miners.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

Beith in North Ayrshire was a notorious haunt of smugglers at one time, and legend has it that a tunnel ran from the town centre down to Kilbirnie Loch.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

North America

= US–Canada =

In early 2005, a group of Canadian drug smugglers took up the idea, and constructed a tunnel between a greenhouse in Langley, British Columbia and the basement of a house in Lynden, Washington, which lay across the ditch marking the Canada–US border. The house on the Langley side was on 0 Avenue ("Zero Avenue"), which runs parallel to the border and is the baseline of Langley's avenue-numbering system. They bought the two properties and began construction work. Authorities were alerted when a neighbor noticed the large-scale construction work being undertaken in the greenhouse. Inspection revealed that tons of construction material were entering, and piles of earth were coming out.

It became known within a short time, by both American and Canadian border authorities, that a tunnel was being built. Video and audio devices were installed secretly by United States customs officials both at the termini and in the tunnel itself. On July 14, the tunnel having been completed, the first packs of marijuana began going through. Officials raided the home soon afterward and arrested the three men, who then appeared before court in Seattle.{{cite web | url=http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20051107_114815_114815 | title=B.C.'s tunnel busters | author=Ken MacQueen | date=2 November 2005 | website=Macleans.ca | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002003035/http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20051107_114815_114815 | url-status=live | archive-date=2011-10-02}} The tunnel was sealed and the roads above it were rebuilt, but the US house where the tunnel exited still exists.{{Cite web |url=http://www.clui.org/section/united-divide-a-linear-portrait-usacanada-border-5 |title=Chapter 6: Washington State |website=United Divide: A Linear Portrait of the USA/Canada Border |publisher=The Center for Land Use Interpretation |date=Winter 2015}}

=US–Mexico=

File:Sinaloa Cartel Drug Tunnel.jpg drug tunnel under the US/Mexico border]]

As of September 30, 2015, 183 illicit cross-border tunnels have been discovered in the United States since Fiscal Year 1990.{{cite report |date=2016 |title=Cross-Border Tunnels and Border Tunnel Prevention: Fiscal Year 2015 Report to Congress |url=https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=795942 |publisher=United States Department of Homeland Security U.S. Customs and Border Protection |page=6 |access-date=22 December 2018 |quote=As of September 30, 2015, 183 illicit cross-border tunnels have been discovered in the United States since Fiscal Year 1990}}

On January 25, 2006, a tunnel was found on the US-Mexico border by a joint US Drug Enforcement Administration, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and US Border Patrol task force. The {{convert|2400|ft|m|adj=on}} long tunnel runs from a warehouse near the Tijuana airport to a warehouse in San Diego. When discovered, it was devoid of people, but it did contain {{convert|2|ST|kg}} of marijuana. It was {{convert|5|ft|m}} high and up to {{convert|90|ft|m}} deep. The floor was made of cement, and the walls were exposed clay, with lights lining one side, a ventilation system to keep fresh air circulating, and a water drainage system to remove infiltrating ground water. Authorities said it was unclear how long the tunnel had been in operation.

On January 30, US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a Mexican citizen who was linked to the tunnel via the US warehouse, operated by V&F Distributors LLC. On the Friday before, January 27, immigration authorities reportedly received information that the Mexican cartel behind the operation was threatening the lives of any agents involved with the construction or occupation of the tunnel. US Customs and Immigration, however, pledged to protect them as best they could. Authorities believe Tijuana's Arellano-Felix drug syndicate, or some other well-known drug cartel, was behind the building and operation of the tunnel.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4653536.stm |title=Drug haul in secret border tunnel |work= BBC News |date=27 January 2006}}

On November 26, 2010, a {{convert|2600|ft|m|adj=on}} tunnel was discovered linking Tijuana to Otay Mesa, San Diego, California.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11850668 |title=Second Mexico-US drug tunnel found in Tijuana |work=BBC News |date=26 November 2010}} In the same month another tunnel was discovered between these two cities. Both tunnels were discovered by a San Diego task force and are believed to be the work of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. Over {{convert|40|ST|kg}} of cannabis was found and confiscated between the two.{{cite web|url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/chatter/mexico-army-drug-tunnel-arizona |title=Mexico's army finds drug tunnel to Arizona |website=GlobalPost |date=2012-07-10 |access-date=2014-03-01}}

An analysis of US-Mexico smuggling tunnels, the US-Canada smuggling tunnel, and the smuggling tunnels in Rafah, Gaza Strip, was completed by Lichtenwald and Perri as part of a transnational analysis of smuggling tunnels.{{cite journal|last1=Lichtenwald |first1=Terrance G. |last2=Perri |first2=Frank S. |title=Smuggling Tunnels:The Need for a Transnational Analysis|journal=Inside Homeland Security |date= Spring 2011 |volume=9 |issue=1 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268576644}}{{cite journal|last1=Lichtenwald |first1=Terrance G.|last2=Perri |first2=Frank S. |title=Terrorist Use of Smuggling Tunnels|journal=International Journal of Criminology and Sociology |date=2013 |volume=2 |pages=210–226 |doi=10.6000/1929-4409.2013.02.21 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268576567}} Lichtenwald and Perri outlined sources and methods for evaluating which tunnels are used by different populations in various parts of the world to smuggle contraband that does not threaten a nation's security, which tunnels that smuggle contraband that does threaten a nation's security, and hybrid tunnels that smuggle contraband that threaten a nation's security as well as that which does not.

In December 2012, a tunnel 3 feet in diameter and 100 yards long, with electricity and ventilation, was found near the Nogales, Arizona, port of entry.{{cite news |title=Mexican Authorities Find Smuggling Tunnel Equipped With Electricity Near Border |agency=Associated Press |url=http://houston.cbslocal.com/2012/12/28/mexican-authorities-find-smuggling-tunnel-equipped-with-electricity-near-border/ |newspaper=KILT (AM) |date=28 December 2012 |access-date=9 January 2013}} On February 14, 2014, another underground drug tunnel was discovered in Nogales.

The tunnel spanned {{convert|481|ft|m}}, or longer than 1.5 American football fields. The tunnel was being used to smuggle marijuana and other drugs into the US. Another {{convert|590|lb|kg}} of marijuana was seized after federal agents stopped a vehicle they saw driving away from the residence. Some {{convert|46|lb|kg}} of marijuana and {{convert|0.5|lb|kg}} of heroin were found inside the tunnel. Three people have been arrested in connection with the bust.{{cite web|url=http://www.azcentral.com/news/arizona/articles/20140213largest-ever-drug-tunnel-nogales-arizona-found.html|title=Largest-ever drug tunnel in Nogales found|work=azcentral.com|access-date=12 November 2014}}

On March 19, 2020, a tunnel connecting Tijuana to San Diego was discovered by the San Diego Tunnel Task Force. The tunnel extended {{convert|2,000|ft|m}} and was outfitted with an underground rail system, ventilation, and lighting. Over {{convert|1,300|lb|kg|abbr=off}} of cocaine, {{convert|86|lb|kg|abbr=off}} of methamphetamine, {{convert|17|lb|kg|abbr=off}} of heroin, {{convert|3,000|lb|kg|abbr=off}} of marijuana and {{convert|2|lb|kg|abbr=off}} of fentanyl were seized.{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/fd12dedb6d54c3abae6c8e437810da33|title=US finds major cross-border tunnel used to smuggle drugs|date=2020-03-31|website=AP NEWS|access-date=2020-04-02}}

In May 2022, a tunnel connecting Tijuana to San Diego was discovered. The tunnel extended "six football fields" in length and was outfitted with an underground rail system, ventilation, and an electricity supply. Over {{convert|1,762|lb|kg}} of cocaine, {{convert|165|lb|kg}} of meth and {{convert|3.5|lb|kg}} of heroin were seized.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/16/california-drug-smuggling-tunnel-us-mexcio-border|title=Drug smuggling tunnel with rail system uncovered on US-Mexico border|work=www.theguardian.com|agency=Associated Press|date=May 16, 2022|access-date=May 17, 2022}}

Asia

=India–Pakistan=

Pakistan has been using Tunnels to infiltrate terrorists and smuggle weapons, explosives, contrabands to India. These terrorists belong to globally sanctioned proscribed organizations like LeT, JeM and Hizbul Mujahideen.{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/massive-anti-tunnelling-operation-on-along-international-border-in-jammu-and-kashmirs-samba/article33154550.ece/amp/|title=Tunnel used by Jaish militants found in Jammu|date=22 November 2020|work=The Hindu}}

Since 1997, a total of 12 tunnels (5 in Punjab frontier and 7 in Jammu frontier) have been discovered by BSF under the India-Pakistan Border, with latest being discovered in 2021.{{cite news|url=https://www.indianexpress.com/article/india/jammu-kashmir-tunnels-walkway-air-pipes-7072302/lite/|title=Six tunnels on Jammu border in four years: walkway, air pipes|date=29 November 2020|publisher=The Indian Express}} The Tunnel discovered in 2021 was also used by Mohammad Umar Farooq, the Main planner of 2019 Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

These tunnels are constructed by Engineer Wing of Pakistan Rangers and Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers.{{cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/bsf-finds-tunnel-used-by-pulwama-attackers-101610564042524-amp.html|title=BSF finds tunnel used by Pulwama attackers|date=14 January 2021|publisher=Hindustan Times}}{{cite news|url=https://www.indianexpress.com/article/india/jammu-kashmir-tunnels-walkway-air-pipes-7072302/lite/|title=Six tunnels on Jammu border in four years: walkway, air pipes|date=29 November 2020|publisher=The Indian Express}}{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/massive-anti-tunnelling-operation-on-along-international-border-in-jammu-and-kashmirs-samba/article33154550.ece/amp/|title=Tunnel used by Jaish militants found in Jammu|date=22 November 2020|work=The Hindu}}

=India–Bangladesh=

Throughout the years, Border Security Force has discovered several smuggling tunnels linking India with Bangladesh, these tunnels are used by Bangladeshi criminals to smuggle cattle, contraband and illegal immigrants.{{Cite web|date=2017-04-26|title=BSF discovers 80 metre-long tunnel for smuggling cattle to Bangladesh|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/bsf-discovers-80-metre-long-tunnel-for-smuggling-cattle-to-bangladesh/story-j4WxAzwomOiAUS4w2mRNiI.html|access-date=2021-01-28|website=Hindustan Times|language=en}}

=North Korea–South Korea=

As of 1990, as many as four tunnels linking North Korea to South Korea have been discovered by South Korean authorities under the Demilitarized Zone. It is believed that the tunnels were planned as a military invasion route or to facilitate intelligence operations as opposed to smuggling controlled items. It is believed that there may be up to 20 tunnels crossing the border, however neither government has acknowledged the discovery or existence other than the four known tunnels.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19252862 |title=Hunt for North Korea's 'hidden tunnels' |author=Lucy Williamson |publisher=BBC |date=23 August 2012 |access-date=2 January 2016}}

The third tunnel is now open to South Korean visitors as a tourist site, however the tunnel has been permanently blocked with three concrete barriers at the Military Demarcation Line between North and South Korea. It can be accessed via a second tunnel dug by South Korean authorities in 1978 to intercept the then yet incomplete North Korean tunnel. The North Korean portion was {{convert|1,635|m|mi|abbr=off}} long, with a maximum height of {{convert|1.95|m|ftin|abbr=off}}, {{convert|2.1|m|ftin|abbr=off}} wide, and at a depth of {{convert|73|m|ft|abbr=on}} below ground. It has been estimated that up to 30,000 men per hour could travel through the tunnel with light weaponry.{{cite news|last=Moore|first=Malcolm|title= Inside North Korea's Third Tunnel of Aggression|url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/malcolmmoore/9902611/Inside_North_Koreas_Third_Tunnel_of_Aggression/|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=May 26, 2009 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713205208/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/malcolmmoore/9902611/Inside_North_Koreas_Third_Tunnel_of_Aggression/| archive-date=13 July 2009}}

===Middle East ===

File:Smuggling tunnel in Rafah (2009).jpg, Gaza Strip (2009)]]

The Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels connect Egypt and the Gaza Strip, bypassing the Egypt–Gaza barrier built by Israel along the international border established by the Egypt–Israel peace treaty. The tunnels pass under the Philadelphi corridor, an area specified in the Oslo accords as being under Israeli military control, in order to secure the border with Egypt. {{citation needed|date=January 2021}}