Thread: TX: Welded manhole lids seem to have stopped smugglers benea

Welded manhole lids seem to have stopped smugglers beneath Hidalgo
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October 23, 2009 6:14 PM
Jared Taylor
The Monitor

HIDALGO — The immigrants and smugglers came in the night, emerging from underground.

Some brought their friends and family. Others brought bundles of narcotics as vans stood on call to load up the cargo.

Many neighbors here said they know nothing of the people who have been using a storm water pipe that ends at the Rio Grande to illegally enter the country.

One resident said he has seen people cross his front yard at least six times in recent months, loading drugs or hopping into waiting vehicles.

But a fix earlier this month seems to have stopped the tide of underground crossings.

The storm water pipe route became such a problem in recent months that the city welded shut many of the manhole openings until they can implement a permanent fix.

The widespread use of the pipe seems to be an unintended consequence of the border wall, which has mostly flanked the city’s south side along the Rio Grande since early this year, said Hidalgo police Capt. Robert Vela.

“When you put the wall up, they’re going to find a way to get people or contraband smuggled across,â€

They weld them shut here to keep them from being stolen and sold as scrap metal.