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Police arrest 3 after divers found near Rio Grande

Two men who might have tried to smuggle drugs into the United States by scuba diving through a Lower Valley drainage tunnel early Wednesday were caught, Border Patrol officials said.

The two were wearing wet suits, air tanks and masks when they were found, officials said. A third man, the only U.S. citizen of the group, had a two-way radio and probably acted as a scout, guiding the others from the U.S. side, officials said.

All three were arrested and turned over to El Paso police at 3:30 p.m., Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier said. Their names were not released.

"This is probably the first documented instance (in the El Paso sector) of a smuggling attempt done with underwater diving apparatus," Mosier said. Such attempts were suspected before but not proved.

No drugs were found, but Border Patrol officials said the men most likely were smugglers.

The three men were found at a pump house at Springfield and Waterview streets after El Paso Water Utilities guards saw suspicious activity about 2 a.m. and called 911. The station pumps water that is pooling in the area and discharges it into the Rio Grande through a drainage tunnel.

That tunnel, 6 feet in diameter, runs about 80 yards to the dried-out river. Water filled the middle part of the tunnel, which drops at 45-degree angles under the Border Highway and the Franklin Canal.

The tunnel opening was blocked by a metal grate, but officials think the divers opened it with hacksaws.
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20040429-111535.shtml