www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_072105WABtunnel_arrestsLJ.1aba20b2.html
com Staff and Wire Reports NWCN US agents said the underground tunnel ran about 360 feet long and at a depth ranging from 3-10 feet under the surface. It was reinforced with r ebar and wood planks for support. US authorities have arrested three Canadian men in the investigation of a massive underground tunnel police say was used for sm uggling marijuana across the border near Lynden, Wash. All three men - 30-year-old Francis Devandra Raj , 34-year-old Timothy Wo o and 27-year-old Johnathan Valenzuela - were from Surrey, British Colum bia and were charged Thursday in a US District Court in Seattle with c onspiracy to import and distributed marijuana. Raj owns the property on the Canadian side of the border where the tunnel was built from a Quonse t hut. All three suspects were scheduled to appear in court in Seattle T hursday afternoon. During a joint press conference Thursday, US and Canadian law officers said the tunnel was the work of a sophisticated organized crime operatio n US attorney John McKay said more charges were expected to follow.
Custom Video Authorities released extended video footage of the tunnel, one of the mos t sophisticated tunnels ever found in the US "It had ventilation, it had electricity, and again, one of the most sophi sticated tunnels seen by law enforcement," said Rod Benson, special agen t in charge with the DEA. The tunnel had been under construction for more than a year, ran about 36 0 feet long by 10 feet deep at about 3 to 10 feet under the surface, sai d Benson. The tunnel was dug from a greenhouse in Langley, Canada to a residential home in Lynden on the US side about 200 feet from the border. It was u sed to transport drugs from Canada into the United States, said official s; Canadian and US officials began their investigation in February of 2005 , monitoring activities on both sides the border, tracking its progress and those connected to its construction. Officials said this was the first such tunnel they have found on the nort hern border, although they have found 33 in California and Arizona along the US-Mexican border. In addition to drugs they say the tunnel brought a threat to national sec urity, although they were certain no weapons went through. This text is invisible on the page, but this text is affected by the invi sible item's flow. This text is invisible on the page, but this text is affected by the invisible item's flow.
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