Fox News uncovers El Paso drain system used to smuggle migrants
Beneath the surface of El Paso, Texas lies a hidden world, one fraught with peril and darkness. Uncovered by Brooke Taylor, this underground storm drain system serves as a clandestine conduit for Mexican cartels, facilitating the illegal passage of migrants into the United States. Within these suffocating tunnels, smugglers now demand an exorbitant fee, ranging from $20,000 to $30,000, for guiding individuals through their perilous journey.
This expansive labyrinth, described by U.S. Border Patrol agents as “a city beneath our city,” was initially designed for flood control. Yet, it has been repurposed by cunning criminals who exploit these storm drains to orchestrate the movement of undocumented migrants from Mexico into El Paso.
In a rare and exclusive adventure, Fox News descended into this shadowy underworld alongside the Confined Space Entry Team (CSET) of the El Paso Sector. This elite group of agents navigated the treacherous terrain, working tirelessly to identify the loopholes smugglers exploit, even as illegal crossings hit an all-time low.
According to Border Patrol, the trek through these oppressive drains typically lasts 45 minutes to an hour, a journey fraught with fluctuating oxygen levels and suffocating heat. Such conditions turn these tunnels into a foreboding testament to the lengths individuals will go in the hope of a new life.
Spanning miles beneath El Paso, this subterranean network features 32 known entry points originating from the Rio Grande. It culminates in numerous exit points dotted throughout the city’s neighborhoods, parks, and commercial areas, showcasing the extensive reach and persistent threat posed by these underground pathways.
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. (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 your playgrounds, in your kids’ schools.”
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’s license left near the entrance, items agents say migrants and smugglers often abandon during the journey.
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. (HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Border Patrol guards entry points near the Rio Grande, and Hartman says agents rely on technology to detect movement inside the underground network.
“We do have technology that lets us know when they’re in there, where they’re going, when they come out,” Hartman said. “Technology grows at a rapid pace.”
Still, some manage to slip through. So far this fiscal year, Border Patrol says agents have apprehended 161 illegal migrants that used El Paso’s 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’s more common to encounter groups of just two or three.
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. (Fox News)
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.
Hartman said the physical conditions alone can be exhausting before agents ever encounter a smuggler.
“For me, it’s the heat and the time and the air,” Hartman said.
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.
“Cartels are desperate to try to get people in,” said Hamid Nikseresht, a U.S. Border Patrol Special Operations supervisor. “They’re desperate to try to fund the networks globally that they fund because this isn’t just a localized issue. This is a global issue.”