Mexicans, Chinese among 30 illegals arrested outside new smuggling tunnel

California border patrol agents made a startling discovery over the weekend when they found a crude tunnel that was being used to smuggle Chinese nationals and other illegal immigrants from Mexico into the U.S.

The tunnel, with a ladder inside, was spotted near San Diego’s Otay Mesa border crossing, authorities said. Border agents happened upon it at 1 a.m. Saturday after arresting a group of 30 people who had just been smuggled into the U.S. through the tunnel. The group included 23 Chinese nationals, including two women.

“While subterranean tunnels are not a new occurrence along the California-Mexico border, they are more commonly utilized by transnational criminal organizations to smuggle narcotics,” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice told KNSD-TV. “However, as this case demonstrates, law enforcement has also identified instances where such tunnels were used to facilitate human smuggling.”

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