Inside underground El Paso storm drain system Border Patrol says cartels exploit to smuggle illegal migrants

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.Fox News was granted rare, exclusive access underground with the El Paso Sector’s 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.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.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.WATCH: INSIDE LOOK AT THE DANGEROUS CARTEL HUMAN SMUGGLING TUNNELS STILL BEING USED AT BORDERMexican 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.

(David Peinado/Anadolu via Getty Images)Jason Hartman, who leads the El Paso Sector’s Confined Space Entry Team, said one of the biggest challenges is where smugglers can emerge once they make it through the underground network."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 you...