Thread: Five rescued from pipe at border

Five rescued from pipe at border

Written by Debbi Baker
6:40 a.m., Nov. 2, 2011
Updated 8:50 a.m.

OTAY MESA — Five people suspected of trying to enter the country illegally through a narrow pipe under the border had to be rescued early Wednesday.

Border Patrol agents first spotted the group entering the passageway through a manhole in Mexico east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday, Border Patrol Agent Michael Jimenez said.

Five were seen climbing into the hole while six others stood nearby.

Agents searched for the pipe’s U.S. exit and found it using a dog about two hours later. It was located north of the secondary fence south of Via De La Amistad and east of state Route 905, Jimenez said.

A man inside the hole kept quiet as agents conducted the search but when they located the opening they found him looking up and he asked for help, Jimenez said.

Agents removed him and called for assistance from fire agencies.

Crews from San Diego and Chula Vista fire departments responded and enlarged the opening and removed three more men and one woman by about 2:20 a.m.

They were hosed off, assessed medically and then turned over to the Border Patrol for processing, Jimenez said. All five were from Mexico, the agent said. No injuries were reported.

The passageway was determined to be an abandoned gas line. It was approximately 100 yards long and about 4 feet underground with a circumference of about two and a half feet, Jimenez said.

One portion of the narrow, concrete-lined pipe was filled with water.

“They could barely keep their heads above the water level to breathe,â€

5 Trapped in Border Tunnel Filled with Sewage
Wednesday, Nov 2, 2011

The secret border tunnel is believed to connect Mexico to Otay Mesa, a distance of 150 meters
[img]http://media.nbcsandiego.com/images/654*368/BorderTunnelDiscovered1102.jpg[/img]
A woman covered in mud and dirt is pulled from the tunnel early Wednesday
Slideshow at link:

Five people were trapped in a tunnel near the U.S.-Mexico border and had to be rescued early Wednesday.

The four men and one woman were discovered inside the tunnel partly filled with sewage in Otay Mesa. The tunnel is believed to lead to Mexico, which is about 150 meters away.

The five were trapped at a point in the tunnel where a fence made it impossible to get through to the U.S.

U.S. Border Patrol agents used a dog to find the opening in the 9800 block of Via De La Amistad behind a company called Artic Containers.

Agents believe a manhole on the Mexican side is the entrance.

Multimedia Border Tunnel Inside Sewage Drain Discovered in Otay Mesa: Images

San Diego and Chula Vista firefighters worked for about 45 minutes to dig out the trapped victims, bringing them out one by one.

They then hosed down each person because of their exposure to sewage. The men were stripped to their underwear. The woman was taken behind a tarp where she was hosed off.

A robot was sent into the hole to investigate, but it got stuck according to officials.

Border tunnels are not new to the Tijuana-San Diego region. In November 2010, a tunnel running 600 yards under the border was discovered along with nearly 30 tons of pot.

Soon after, a second tunnel was discovered equipped with lighting, ventilation, and a rail system for drugs to be carried on a small cart.

U.S. authorities have discovered more than 125 clandestine tunnels along the Mexican border since the early 1990s, though many were crude and incomplete.

Source: 5 Trapped in Border Tunnel Filled with Sewage | NBC San Diego
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/B ... 67718.html

C.B.P. News Release

U.S. Border Patrol Rescues Five Illegal Aliens from Crude Cross Border Tunnel

(Wednesday, November 02, 2011)

Otay Mesa, Calif. – U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended five illegal aliens from Mexico this morning that became stuck while crawling through a makeshift tunnel which branched off of an abandoned gas line near the Otay Mesa port of entry.

At around midnight, agents observed several people enter a manhole on the south side of the U.S./Mexico International Boundary fence. Shortly after, a Border Patrol agent on patrol near the area discovered a man attempting to exit an opening in the ground in the block of Via de La Amistad. The man was stuck in the opening and informed the agent that there were four other people behind him.

The agent contacted dispatch who requested assistance from both the San Diego and Chula Vista Fire Departments who responded to evaluate the situation. Within one hour, rescue teams extracted five Mexican nationals from the tunnel. One female and four males were evaluated and determined to be in good health with no physical injuries. Border Patrol agents took custody of the group and transported them to a local Border Patrol station for processing and further investigation.

The San Diego Tunnel Task Force, comprised of agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the U.S. Border Patrol, will examine the makeshift tunnel to remedy the compromised area. To report suspicious activity related to cross-border tunnels, please contact the Tunnel Task Force tip line at (708) 872-7847 (USBPTIP) or tunneltips@cbp.dhs.gov.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Contacts For This News Release
San Diego Sector
CBP Public Affairs
Phone: (619) 216-4182 or

CBP Headquarters
Office of Public Affairs
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Room 3.4A
Washington, DC 20229 Phone: (202) 344-1780 or
(800) 826-1471
Fax: (202) 344-1393

Department of Homeland Security

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/new ... 2011_4.xml

Boy they will do any thing to get in to The US . but we will stop them
come hell or high water
Im sick of all the hand out
No amnesty
& Obama just don't care well it time he did


that man I can not stand at all him & all of the Other 's
Clean out the WH fast