DHS Planning On Spending $100 Million To Locate Cross-Border Tunnels

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is set to spend $100 million to locate cross-border tunnels, many of which are used with smuggling purposes.

The contract will be managed by Customs and Border Protection and will be focused on high-risk areas of the southwest border and California. The funds are set to be allocated in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, with work expected to be completed by the end of next year.

The system, according to Govconwire, is designed to monitor underground activity and identify potential connections where a tunnel could cross or has crossed the border.

Several tunnels have been located throughout southern U.S. over the past years. The latest one, although unfinished, was found underneath a vape shop in Texas.

Officials told NewsNation in late September that the 25-foot-deep tunnel was located inside a vape shop in Laredo while authorities where conducting an operation targeting such shops across the country.

In late June, two people were indicted in an investigation regarding a tunnel connecting Mexico's Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas, that was found earlier this year.

According to Border report, the development was communicated by Jason Stevens, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso. He told Sen. Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, that the matter is still under investigation and that two people have been indicted so far.

Stevens went on to detail that the tunnel was " approximately 4-by-6 (feet)" and that "two individuals my size could walk through it side-by-side." "We had significant concerns because it could have individuals transiting through the tunnel unknown and undetected by law enforcement," he added.

Border Patrol also communicated earlier this year that it disabled another tunnel that crossed the southern border and sought to be used for smuggling purposes.

The tunnel was found in early April while still under construction. It passed underneath the Otay Mesa Port of Entry and connected Tijuana and San Diego, U.S. Customs and Border Protection detailed. Its projected exit point would be near or inside a commercial warehouse space in San Diego.

Originally published on Latin Times