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GUANGDONG Province border authorities and Hong Kong police are investigating a 40-meter tunnel in a Shenzhen-Hong Kong border area that likely was used for smuggling, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.
The tunnel’s entrance is in a garage next to a border fence in a village in Liantang, Luohu District. Equipment and materials for digging the tunnel — including a drill head, steel pipes and cement — reportedly were left at the mouth of the 50-centimeter-wide entrance, which was supported by bags of dirt dug from the tunnel.
The tunnel is big enough for adults to crawl through and has lights, ventilation and walls reinforced by a steel frame, with a pulley system on the ceiling and a rail track on the floor. A trolley was found inside.
The exit of the tunnel is on a border-area riverbank that’s covered by reeds 3 meters tall. The river is less than 5 meters from the reeds and said to provide easy access to Hong Kong when it runs low during the winter.
Border police said the tunnel was found Dec. 19 when border patrollers noticed unusual sounds and people in the area, to which access is strictly controlled.
Police said the tunnel is 2 meters underground and extends south across the border control area until reaching the river.
Police said the ropes and pulleys had no evidence of being used by smugglers.
A security guard in the area said he was unaware of the tunnel since the garage was in a remote location and locked. A resident living near the garage, surnamed Chen, said she had heard a few drilling sounds on two nights but thought it was home renovations.
The owner of the garage said it’s been rented since August to a man who police later found had been using a fake identity.
Police estimated that the tunnel may have cost at least 3 million yuan to build (US$490,635).
In 2003, a mysterious tunnel was discovered running from a flat in Shenzhen’s Shatoujiao area into Hong Kong. The tunnel could have been used to smuggle goods or illegal immigrants, media reports said. (Anna Zhao)
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