A secret 1,000ft-long tunnel between the US and Mexico will be sealed after it was discovered earlier this month.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said its agents found a completed man-made tunnel after inspecting a storm drain system in Texas.
According to officials, the tunnel runs between the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez and the US city of El Paso – which are separated by the Rio Grande and the US-Mexico border.
General Jose Lemus, commander of Ciudad Juarez’s military garrison, said on Sunday that Mexican officials would seal the 1,000ft long underpass, according to CBS News.
He added the tunnel – first discovered on 10 January – “must have taken a long time” to build, suggesting “it could have been one or two years”.
The Mexican Attorney General’s Office is responsible for the investigation, the general said, and will be in charge of determining if authorities were complicit in its construction.
The CBP previously said that the tunnel measures six feet high and four feet wide, is fitted with lighting and a ventilation system, and is braced with wood throughout to prevent collapse.
It comes as both the US and Mexico strengthen border security ahead of the inauguration of Donald Trump on Monday.
The president-elect promised mass deportations throughout the election campaign and told Sky’s US partner network NBC on Saturday they would begin “very early, very quickly” after he is sworn in as president.
“We’re already geared up, and it will begin,” he added. “We have to get the criminals that have come here illegally out of our country.”
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NBC News also reported Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are planning several raids in Chicago, Illinois, after Mr Trump’s inauguration.
A source familiar with the plans told the broadcaster that multiple locations would be targeted, and it could start as early as Tuesday.
Sky News has contacted the US Customs and Border Protection office for comment.
