Hidden beneath the streets of El Paso lies a sprawling network of storm drains built for flood control that authorities say Mexican cartels continue to exploit to smuggle illegal immigrants from Mexico into the United States.

Border Patrol Efforts

Border Patrol agents describe the storm drain system as ‘a city underneath our city,’ with 32 known entry points from the Rio Grande into the United States and hundreds of exit points scattered throughout neighborhoods, parks, and commercial areas across the city.

Jason Hartman, who leads the El Paso Sector’s Confined Space Entry Team, said one of the biggest challenges is where smugglers can emerge once they make it through the underground network. ‘There are exit points into schools, into elementary schools, where we sleep, where we play,’ Hartman told Fox News. ‘At any point, you can have smugglers or bad guys coming up in your backyard, in your playgrounds, in your kids’ schools.’

Border Patrol guards entry points near the Rio Grande, and Hartman says agents rely on technology to detect movement inside the underground network. ‘We do have technology that lets us know when they’re in there, where they’re going, when they come out,’ Hartman said.

Smuggling Operations

Cartels are desperate to try to get people in, according to U.S. Border Patrol Special Operations supervisor Hamid Nikseresht. ‘They’re desperate to try to fund the networks globally that they fund because this isn’t just a localized issue. This is a global issue.’

Border Patrol says because it is more difficult and risky to illegally cross the border, smugglers have dramatically increased what they charge migrants, between $20,000 and $30,000 per person, to guide them through the storm drains.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.