Pubdate: Thu, 21 Jul 2005
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2005, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: William Mbaho, With a report from Petti Fong

POLICE RAID BORDER TUNNEL

VANCOUVER -- A large and sophisticated secret tunnel between the
United States and Canada that may have been used to transport drugs
has been discovered by cross-border law enforcement officers.

The well-maintained tunnel runs about a hundred metres from a house in
Lynden, Wash., and under a road to a greenhouse in the area of 264th
Street and Zero Avenue in Langley, B.C.

A federal source told a U.S. television station the tunnel was likely
used to smuggle illegal drugs.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officers observed the tunnel being built
before they launched the raid yesterday with the assistance of the
RCMP, CTV News reported.

The operation focused on a Lynden house surrounded by dense trees and
obscured from the road.

The U.S. Attorney's office is the lead agency in this case, and some
arrests have been made, Seattle NBC affiliate KONG reported.

Ruthie Steinfort, a neighbour of the house, told reporters, "As I was
coming home from lunch they had the roads blocked off . . . because
they dug a tunnel from the house to the greenhouse in Canada."

She said she was suspicious about the house because it had been empty
for almost two years.

"We always kind of wondered why the people bought it and nobody was
living there," she said.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin