PHOENIX - U.S. officials say Mexican authorities have found a sophisticated smuggling tunnel equipped with electricity and ventilation not far from the Nogales port of entry into Arizona.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada says the Mexican military discovered the tunnel this week in downtown Nogales, Sonora. He says the tunnel originated in a home in Mexico and stretched about 100 metres (yards).
U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Victor Brabble says the tunnel did not cross into the U.S.
Similar tunnels have been used for years by criminals for smuggling people and drugs across the border.
More than 70 such passages have been found since October 2008, most concentrated along the border in California and Arizona.
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