Underground war: border tunnel problem worsening as fences go up.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: SECURITY BEAT: HOMELAND DEFENSE BRIEFS

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SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Tunnels underneath the southwest border are expected to proliferate as improved fencing makes it harder for smugglers to move illicit goods, said members of a San Diego task force tackling the problem.

The task force is seeing tunnels in "new geographical areas that traditionally have not had tunneling," said Drug Enforcement Agency special agent and task force member Darron Lee at the National Defense Industrial Association robotics conference. About 18 were uncovered in 2007, he said.

The increased activity has apparently prompted some organizational changes in Washington where the issue is being taken more seriously, according to one insider. The Department of Homeland Security's science and technology directorate has given up its counter-tunneling portfolio to the Technical Support Working Group, an inter-agency organization that provides seed money for companies and research laboratories to solve vexing problems.

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And when it comes to locating clandestine tunnels, and those who are constructing them, the technological challenges are many, Lee and other members of the task force said.

There are several ways to detect a tunnel with sensing technology, but they are not mature enough to be effective. In addition, none of them are covert, Lee said. Those who are using the tunnels can spot the task force's efforts and disappear before they are caught.

"We arrest very few people--if any at all," he said.

Most discoveries come from tips rather than sensors.

Because of the dangers involved, agents cannot simply jump into a tunnel with guns drawn and catch the perpetrators red-handed, he explained.

Procedures call for a map to be drawn within 24 hours. Then a National Guard...