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Underworld: How the Sinaloa Drug Cartel Digs Its Tunnels

newyorker.com

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Re: Underworld: How the Sinaloa Drug Cartel Digs Its Tunnels

#11

Post by mzs »

jqm wrote: post #8

I was hoping for an explanation of how they are able to pinpoint exactly which direction to dig and come up. I mean.. coming up into a 2 foot square from 35 feet underground from a mile away isn't something you guess at. GPS signals don't work underground do they?

GPS does not work underground, you can for some impressive distance get away with a long cable and an external antenna, but there are also GPS repeaters available.

Re: Underworld: How the Sinaloa Drug Cartel Digs Its Tunnels

#12

Post by hamiltonkibbe »

jqm wrote: post #8

I was hoping for an explanation of how they are able to pinpoint exactly which direction to dig and come up. I mean.. coming up into a 2 foot square from 35 feet underground from a mile away isn't something you guess at. GPS signals don't work underground do they?

Survey equipment. RTK GPS for position reference and heading on the surface, and lasers. Lots of lasers.

see e.g. http://www.leica-geosystems.us/en/Tunnel-surveys_1693.htm

Re: Underworld: How the Sinaloa Drug Cartel Digs Its Tunnels

#13

Post by dsmithatx »

jqm wrote: post #8

I was hoping for an explanation of how they are able to pinpoint exactly which direction to dig and come up. I mean.. coming up into a 2 foot square from 35 feet underground from a mile away isn't something you guess at. GPS signals don't work underground do they?

If you know the exact direction at the opening and, the tunnel is in a straight line a laser pointer should work fine. Just keep making sure it hits where you are digging. Reading the entire story it sounds like that is all they were doing.

Re: Underworld: How the Sinaloa Drug Cartel Digs Its Tunnels

#14

Post by stcredzero »

To quote an old adage: "...interprets it as damage and routes around it."

This seems to apply more to black market trade than the modern internet. Information can't be stopped permanently, but the usage of various services on the internet can be made less convenient and curtailed, even by 2nd and 3rd rate governments, if only for awhile. Meanwhile, the most powerful state on Earth can't stop the inflow of illicit drugs.

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