Fox News uncovers El Paso drain system used to smuggle migrants<\/h4>\n
Brooke Taylor uncovers El Paso, Texas’ underground storm drain system, a hidden world exploited by cartels to illegally move migrants from Mexico into the United States. Taylor highlights the extreme danger and harsh conditions within the hot, dark, and tight tunnels. Smugglers are now charging migrants a premium fee of $20,000 to $30,000 for passage through these confined spaces.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Hidden beneath the streets of El Paso lies what U.S. Border Patrol agents describe as “a city underneath our city,” a sprawling network of storm drains built for flood control that authorities say Mexican cartels continue exploiting to smuggle illegal migrants from Mexico into the United States.<\/p>\n Fox News was granted rare, exclusive access underground with the El Paso Sector\u2019s elite Confined Space Entry Team (CSET), joining agents as they navigated the dangerous maze of tunnels where Border Patrol says smugglers continue searching for vulnerabilities, despite illegal crossings and apprehensions at historically low levels.<\/p>\n Border Patrol told Fox News it takes smugglers and illegal migrants 45 minutes to an hour to make it through the storm drains, which are hot and tight, with oxygen levels that can change or drop unexpectedly.<\/p>\n The underground system stretches for miles beneath El Paso. According to Border Patrol, there are 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.<\/p>\n WATCH: INSIDE LOOK AT THE DANGEROUS CARTEL HUMAN SMUGGLING TUNNELS STILL BEING USED AT BORDER<\/strong><\/p>\n Mexican police operate to close and secure a clandestine tunnel discovered at the border between Mexico and the United States, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on January 13, 2025. The tunnel, used for drug and human trafficking, was secured by the Mexican National Guard and personnel from the Attorney General’s Office, who collected evidence before sealing it permanently.<\/span> (David Peinado\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Jason Hartman, who leads the El Paso Sector\u2019s Confined Space Entry Team, said one of the biggest challenges is where smugglers can emerge once they make it through the underground network.<\/p>\n “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\u2019 schools.”<\/p>\n Just outside one of the storm drain entrances, evidence of previous crossings remained behind. Fox News observed tools, a wallet and even a Mexican driver\u2019s license left near the entrance, items agents say migrants and smugglers often abandon during the journey.<\/p>\n MEXICAN NATIONAL SENTENCED IN BORDER CHILD SMUGGLING CASE INVOLVING THC-LACED CANDY<\/strong><\/p>\n A U.S. Border Patrol agent works at the border to seal an illegal cross-border tunnel which was originally discovered on January 10, 2025, between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on March 11, 2025.<\/span> (HERIKA MARTINEZ\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Border Patrol guards entry points near the Rio Grande, and Hartman says agents rely on technology to detect movement inside the underground network.<\/p>\n “We do have technology that lets us know when they\u2019re in there, where they\u2019re going, when they come out,” Hartman said. “Technology grows at a rapid pace.”<\/p>\n Still, some manage to slip through. So far this fiscal year, Border Patrol says agents have apprehended 161 illegal migrants that used El Paso\u2019s storm drain system. At the height of the border crisis, Hartman said agents sometimes encountered groups of up to 70 migrants moving through the underground maze. Today, he said, it\u2019s more common to encounter groups of just two or three.<\/p>\n SIX ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, INCLUDING 14-YEAR-OLD, FOUND DEAD IN SHIPPING CONTAINER ALONG SOUTHERN BORDER<\/strong><\/p>\n Fox News got an inside look at the underground network of storm drains below El Paso, Texas, that Border Patrol says cartels are exploiting to smuggle illegal migrants.<\/span> (Fox News)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Agents assigned to the specialized team undergo extensive training in a full-scale replica storm drain, learning how to operate in confined spaces while constantly monitoring oxygen levels that can change without warning.<\/p>\n Hartman said the physical conditions alone can be exhausting before agents ever encounter a smuggler.<\/p>\n “For me, it\u2019s the heat and the time and the air,” Hartman said.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n “Cartels are desperate to try to get people in,” said Hamid Nikseresht, a U.S. Border Patrol Special Operations supervisor. “They\u2019re desperate to try to fund the networks globally that they fund because this isn\u2019t just a localized issue. This is a global issue.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Mexican](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1200\/675\/mexican-soldiers-tunnel.png?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1200\/675\/border-patrol-agent-tunnel-el-paso.png?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n![\"El](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1200\/675\/el-paso-storm-drain-3.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n