A Honduran man pleaded guilty Wednesday for attempting to smuggle drugs into the U.S. by way of the All-American Canal while wearing a wetsuit and scuba gear.
Evelio Padilla-Zepeda confessed to entering the country through a tunnel from Mexico to a spot on the south bank of said canal located east in Imperial County.
He was arrested after Border Patrol agents caught him with the use of remote video surveillance equipment, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Padilla-Zepeda was initially told that he would be helping other people cross the border, but he was then told that he would be smuggling drugs instead, according to the criminal complaint against him. He admitted that he had no other choice at that time.
Border Patrol agents arrested Padilla-Zepeda back in April 25 of this year near the All-American Canal, about seven miles east of Calexico, Calif., where he was found soaked and wet.
They found a breathing tank, which comes with a "rebreather" to avert surface bubbles, right next to him, as well as numerous vacuum-sealed bags containing 55 pounds of cocaine, the New York Daily News reported.
The agents ended up discovering the 150-foot-long tunnel that starts from a house in Mexicali, Mexico, and ended under the water of the canal.
"Drug smugglers will try anything to move their product - even scuba diving in an underwater tunnel. The ingenuity of the smugglers is matched only by our determination to thwart it," Laura Duffy, an American lawyer, said in a statement, according to Fox News Latino.
