Surveying Tunnels and their use by Transnational Organized Crime in the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez Region

• In Event: Police Response to Drugs

Abstract

Concerns over the permeability of the US-Mexico border have been commonplace in the rhetoric of current and past US government administrations. Tunnels have often been cited as constituting a pressing security issue in the region, due to its alleged use by transnational organized crime, namely drug trafficking, and migrant smuggling organizations. While reports of the use of these underground structures by criminal organization abound, overall data on the existence and documented use of said structures is scattered and often incomplete. This qualitative study, drawing primarily from open source data and interviews with local law enforcement, seeks to determine the existence, location and use of tunnels in the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez region, and to ground the rationale behind the concerns over the likelihood of tunnels to be used by transnational criminal organizations and even terrorist groups. The study covers the local history of El Paso as related to trans-border crime and tunnel use, surveys the kinds of underground structures identified in the region comparing them with those in other border sectors, and provides policy recommendations concerning tunnel surveying and securement.

Author

• Danae Hernandez-Ware, University of Texas at El Paso