Drug tunnel found under B.C.-U.S. border
Author: Associated Press, Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC), 07-21-05


SEATTLE -- U.S. government agents have shut down a drug-smuggling tunnel built under the Canadian border near Lynden, Wash., a government source said Wednesday.

Authorities had been monitoring construction of the tunnel for eight months and sealed it Wednesday, shortly after it opened, making three to five arrests in the process, said the source, a government employee who had been briefed by local law-enforcement officials.

The exact length of the tunnel was not known. It ran from a building on the Canadian side at 0 Avenue and 268 Street, just east of the Aldergrove border crossing, to a house on the U.S. side, 90 metres from the border, the source said.

The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because the news had not yet been made public. A news release was expected this morning. Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle, declined comment, as did Michael Milne, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The source said the investigation was handled largely by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI, which did not immediately return a call Wednesday.

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