An El Paso man is headed to federal prison for his role in a tunnel smuggling conspiracy, according to federal prosecutors, in a case that highlights a long-running cat-and-mouse game beneath the U.S. Mexico line.
In a brief notice on X, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas described the case as a “tunnel smuggling conspiracy” and tagged Homeland Security Investigations El Paso and the El Paso Sector Border Patrol chief, using the hashtag #OperationTakeBackAmerica, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
Tunnel Finds Have Surfaced In El Paso Before
The sentencing lands in a region where federal agents have already stumbled on hidden passageways beneath the border. As detailed by Homeland Security Investigations El Paso, investigators previously discovered a “sophisticated” cross-border tunnel that ran into a local storm-drain system and was fitted with lighting, ventilation, and wooden supports.
What Federal Law Says About Border Tunnels
Under federal law, building, bankrolling, or using unauthorized cross-border tunnels is a crime, and penalties can increase if the tunnel is used to move people, drugs, or weapons. The Border Tunnel Prevention Act expanded 18 U.S.C. § 555 so that attempts and conspiracies involving such tunnels are also chargeable offenses, per Congress.gov.
Part Of A Broader Crackdown
Similar tunnel and smuggling prosecutions have been folded into Operation Take Back America, a Justice Department initiative that concentrates federal muscle on cartels and other transnational criminal organizations. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas has linked prosecutions involving alien smuggling and tunnel activity to that campaign, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Texas.
“The uncovering of this tunnel showcases the success of our combined investigative efforts,” HSI El Paso Special Agent in Charge Jason T. Stevens said in an earlier statement about a prior tunnel find. Federal partners say subsequent arrests and prosecutions are aimed at disrupting smuggling networks and cutting the risk for people steered into these dangerous underground routes.
Court filings and more detailed press releases are expected to spell out who the defendant is, what charges were resolved, whether there was a plea, and how long the sentence runs. Those records should also clarify whether this case is tied to any of the tunnels that have already been publicly identified. This story will be updated as additional documents become available.
