US federal authorities have discovered a drug smuggling tunnel that led from a home in Mexico to a former KFC restaurant in Arizona.
Department of Homeland Security officials received information that one end of the tunnel was located inside the abandoned fast food joint in San Luis - just 200 yards north of the US-Mexico border.
Police then began trailing the owner of the building, Ivan Lopez, and arrested him this month after finding several packages of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl in the back of his truck.
That arrest led to a search at his home and the old restaurant, where agents found a hidden tunnel that led back to a house in Mexico. It was large enough for people to freely walk through.
“Tunnels are a time-consuming venture but it has definitely increased since the border security measures have ramped up,” said Scott Brown, special agent in charge for the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division.
“One of the things that tunnelling does tell us is that as we increase infrastructure, resources, patrol, that’s forcing them to go to more costly routes into the US.”
Mr Brown said a functioning tunnel can cost traffickers hundreds of thousands of dollars to build.
The authorities do not know how long the underground route leading to the San Luis KFC had been in use, but Mr Lopez only bought the property in April.
According to court documents, the government has accused Mr Lopez of being a well-trusted cartel member. Arrested on August 13, he is being held in federal detention without bond because he is considered a flight risk.
The use of tunnels for drug trafficking has been a major issue on the US-Mexico border for several decades now. Opponents of Donald Trump's proposed border wall argue smugglers will circumvent it by continuing to dig tunnels.
Nearly 200 cross-border tunnels that have been discovered since 1990. In 2016, authorities discovered a nearly half-mile tunnel running between Otay Mesa, California, and Tijuana, Mexico.
HSI has a tunnel task force and the Customs and Border Protection agency has a tunnel detection and technology programme.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
