Have any confirmed smuggling tunnels been found in the Upper Midwest, and what agencies investigated them?
Executive summary
Reporting provided contains multiple confirmed discoveries of man-made smuggling tunnels — but all are located along the U.S.–Mexico Southwest border (not the Upper Midwest); the investigations were led by federal homeland‑security and narcotics agencies including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Border Patrol/Customs and Border Protection (CBP/USBP), the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and multi‑agency tunnel task forces [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. No documented Upper Midwest tunnel discoveries in the supplied reporting
None of the sources in the packet reports discovery of smuggling tunnels in the Upper Midwest; every specific tunnel cited was found on the Southwest border around El Paso or San Diego, and the supplied stories and agency releases make no claim about confirmed tunnels in states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio or the Dakotas [1] [5] [3] [6].
2. Where the confirmed tunnels were found and what was discovered
The packet documents a January 2025 El Paso discovery — a tunnel extending under the U.S.–Mexico border into an El Paso storm drain described as roughly 4 feet by 6 feet [5] [7] [1] — and multiple San Diego/Otay Mesa discoveries, including a sophisticated narcotics tunnel running from Tijuana into Otay Mesa that investigators characterized as among the longest or most complex found in that region and that yielded large drug seizures in prior cases [3] [6] [8] [9].
3. Agencies that investigated and led prosecutions or remediation efforts
Investigations and responses were consistently multi‑agency: HSI (ICE’s investigative arm) took lead roles in El Paso and San Diego (HSI El Paso leading prosecution efforts in El Paso and HSI San Diego participating in the San Diego Tunnel Task Force), U.S. Border Patrol and CBP executed discovery and remediation, the FBI provided support in El Paso, and the DEA and U.S. Attorney’s Offices were partners on the San Diego Tunnel Task Force alongside HSI and USBP [5] [1] [3] [4] [9].
4. How agencies described their roles and the narrative emphasis in reporting
Agency statements emphasize interagency collaboration, disruption of transnational criminal organizations, and remediation (for example filling tunnels with concrete), language that frames discoveries as both law‑enforcement successes and border‑security wins; local and national outlets reprised those official characterizations, sometimes amplifying phrases like “historic” or “sophisticated” from agency releases [2] [7] [8] [6]. Some reporting also places these finds in political context — for instance noting the border’s prominence in political debate — which can reflect implicit agendas to highlight security threats [10].
5. Reporting limits and what remains unknown about the Upper Midwest question
Because the provided sources contain detailed accounts of Southwest border tunnels but no material about the Upper Midwest, the available evidence neither confirms nor documents any smuggling tunnels in the Upper Midwest; absence of reporting in this packet is not proof none ever existed, only that these sources do not record such discoveries or investigations [1] [5] [3]. To establish whether any Upper Midwest tunnels have been found would require searching regional law‑enforcement releases, local news archives, state police records, or federal case files beyond this collection.