Underworld: How the Sinaloa Drug Cartel Digs Its Tunnels

Underworld: How the Sinaloa Drug Cartel Digs Its Tunnels(newyorker.com)

62 points by balbaugh 10 years ago | 14 comments

Labyrinth 10 years ago |

Not to plug but here is Vice News coverage of the el chapo escape along with a more detailed view of how they construct the tunnels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh3RHV5G1Fc

ChuckMcM 10 years ago | |

Thanks for that, it was interesting their coverage of the 'hoax' aspect of this escape (not that the escape was a hoax but that the events leading up to it were enabled by support from inside the Mexican government and prisons system.) I also hadn't realized that there hasn't been an independent confirmation of the full length of the tunnel. I would have thought that would be the first thing some news agency would do.

stcredzero 10 years ago |

To quote an old adage: "...interprets it as damage and routes around it."

This seems to apply more to black market trade than the modern internet. Information can't be stopped permanently, but the usage of various services on the internet can be made less convenient and curtailed, even by 2nd and 3rd rate governments, if only for awhile. Meanwhile, the most powerful state on Earth can't stop the inflow of illicit drugs.

Retric 10 years ago |

The number of tunnels seem excessive, I don't know the drug numbers but let's use people.

A tunnel large enough to walk though could send 10 people a minute without problem. While 24/7 would be near impossible to achieve, it’s 600 people an hour, 14,400 people a day, and up to 5,256,000 people per year.

kardos 10 years ago | |

You need to build tunnels at least at the rate that they get discovered. Also if there's excessive traffic at one tunnel, it's more likely that it'll get found. A distributed network of tunnels is much better for business.

Retric 10 years ago | | |

Sure, I am probably also underestimating how many drugs get sent past the border. But, the point still stands you can send a lot of stuff down a tunnel where loading and unloading quickly become the largest issue.

jqm 10 years ago |

I was hoping for an explanation of how they are able to pinpoint exactly which direction to dig and come up. I mean.. coming up into a 2 foot square from 35 feet underground from a mile away isn't something you guess at. GPS signals don't work underground do they?

willyt 10 years ago | |

Laser measurement systems. e.g. http://ptd.leica-geosystems.com/en/Total-Stations-TPS_4207.h...

hamiltonkibbe 10 years ago | |

Survey equipment. RTK GPS for position reference and heading on the surface, and lasers. Lots of lasers.

see e.g. http://www.leica-geosystems.us/en/Tunnel-surveys_1693.htm

joshuapants 10 years ago | |

> GPS signals don't work underground do they?

They probably wouldn't. But you also don't necessarily need GPS to do this. Have someone survey it topside, use that data and a compass underground.

dsmithatx 10 years ago | |

If you know the exact direction at the opening and, the tunnel is in a straight line a laser pointer should work fine. Just keep making sure it hits where you are digging. Reading the entire story it sounds like that is all they were doing.

mzs 10 years ago | |

GPS does not work underground, you can for some impressive distance get away with a long cable and an external antenna, but there are also GPS repeaters available.

sogen 10 years ago |

Sinaloa on the frontpage of HN...

mcphage 10 years ago | |

As foretold in The Prophecy?