SEATTLE, July 21: US officials on Thursday said they had uncovered a tunnel they believe was excavated by drug smugglers to secretly slip back and forth between the United States and Canada. The US Drug Enforcement Administration and federal prosecutors announced the discovery of the tunnel and showed it to the media at a press conference at its mouth on the US side of the border.

Investigators watched the progress of the newly created subterranean route, which appeared to be professionally done and geared for drug smuggling, the US attorney’s office confirmed.

The 100-metre tunnel linking the northwestern US state of Washington with the Canadian province of British Columbia was shut down before it could be used, The Seattle Times reported. Three Canadian men have been charged in connection with building the “professionally constructed” tunnel, the paper said. —AFP