NARCO TUNNEL UNDER RIO GRANDE TO BE FILLED IN

EL PASO -- U.S. and Mexican officials are still working on a plan to
fill in a narco tunnel found late last month under the Rio Grande, a
spokeswoman with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Friday.

U.S. Border Patrol agents found the tunnel, which stretched 130 feet
under a concrete-lined section of the Rio Grande, apparently used by
drug smugglers traveling between Juarez and El Paso. Agents said it
was the first such tunnel they've found in El Paso.

ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa said officials on both sides of the
border are still trying to coordinate plans to seal the tunnel.

The tunnel measures about 2 feet high and 2 feet wide. Border Patrol
agents discovered it near the Bridge of the Americas after they became
suspicious of noises coming from the area. Agents said they used
electronic devices to find the tunnel.

The small, crudely made tunnel was just wide enough for people to
crawl from Mexico into the U.S. Agents discovered 200 pounds of
marijuana inside and arrested a 17-year-old Mexican boy found nearby.

Agents said the tunnel stretched from a drainage ditch in Juarez to a
storm drain in El Paso.

Border Patrol officials said more than 100 tunnels have been
discovered in other parts of the U.S.-Mexico border.