Claustrophobic? Don't even think of joining the Border Patrol's 'tunnel rats'
You can’t be claustrophobic if you want to work for the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tunnel Entry team -- the unit that explores underground drug-smuggling passages near the U.S.-Mexican border.
To prove they don’t freak out in tight spaces, prospective confined-space rescue technicians, or “tunnel rats,” have to wriggle through a two foot-wide pipe for about 20 yards before they can join the squad.
“You know right off if it’s playing with someone’s mind,” said Lance LeNoir, who leads the five person squad. “It takes some psyching up, to say the least, to do the job.”
Given their job description, tunnel team members need steady nerves. Underground passages beneath the U.S.-Mexican border have become longer and tighter over the last decade, according to law enforcement officials.
To prove they don’t freak out in tight spaces, prospective confined-space rescue technicians, or “tunnel rats,” have to wriggle through a two foot-wide pipe for about 20 yards before they can join the squad.
“You know right off if it’s playing with someone’s mind,” said Lance LeNoir, who leads the five person squad. “It takes some psyching up, to say the least, to do the job.”
Given their job description, tunnel team members need steady nerves. Underground passages beneath the U.S.-Mexican border have become longer and tighter over the last decade, according to law enforcement officials.
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