UNDERGROUND TUNNELS VEX BORDER PATROL

TUCSON, Ariz. - U.S. Border Patrol agents ride their bicycles through
Nogales, Ariz., watching storm drains for suspicious faces - because
it's too dangerous to patrol below ground.

The extensive sewer system under their feet, which links the Arizona
border town to Nogales, Mexico, is controlled by criminals who use it
to move their illegal shipments of people and drugs, officials say.

"We couldn't just send one agent in," said Rene Noriega, a U.S. Border
Patrol supervisor. "The whole tunnel area is controlled by smugglers,
at least the whole southern end of it. They conduct
countersurveillance on us. They employ scouts who come out and see
where we are. Obviously, there are some safety issues." In the past
six years, authorities in Nogales have discovered seven hand-dug
tunnels leading to the sewer system. Within the past week,
investigators discovered two more, one that ended in a home containing
840 pounds of cocaine.

In all, investigators have seized 2,526 pounds of cocaine and 3,391
pounds of marijuana and arrested more than a dozen drug smuggler
suspects in connection with the tunnels, according to the Nogales Task
Force.

On both sides of the border, the lack of resources gives drug
smugglers a marked advantage, law enforcement authorities say.

Eduardo Santos Acosto-Michel, head of Mexico's anti-drug operations
for the Sonoran border, acknowledged that the drainage system is a
thoroughfare for undocumented immigrants and drug smugglers.

"I have men in there but not enough," Acosto-Michel said in his
Nogales, Mexico, office. "The reality is, the people move through
there. I can't stop that without more resources." The 26-year veteran
said he has been waiting for more agents since President Vicente Fox
took office in December. Fox has promised to wage a war on drugs and
weed out corruption.

Lt. Raul Rodriguez, commander of the Santa Cruz County Metro Task
Force, has a staff of 22 and a budget of $1.1 million. But he said
that's nowhere near enough to stamp out smuggling.

Authorities are outmanned by the smugglers, who are also better
equipped in some cases. They use digital radios border agents can't
unscramble. They seem to have an unlimited supply of money for
countersurveillance, Rodriguez said.

One tunnel, discovered in January 1999, led to a home across from a
Roman Catholic elementary school whose playground was in plain view of
the tunnel exit.

The smugglers knew when to make a move. They would wait for the time
when the streets were the busiest - at 2:30 p.m. when school was
letting out, and when the agents were in the midst of a shift change.

Smugglers also do "heat runs," sending out two decoy cars at once.
They peel out of driveways and run red lights to see whether the cops
are on to them, Rodriguez said.

"They're good," Rodriguez acknowledged. "We just have to be a lot
better than they are."