That had me thinking back about anything unusual, beyond the unusual things one finds at a home inspection, that has made any one house most memorable to me. There is no question about it that the one that comes to mind is a home that made the national and international news. I inspected it about six months after the big splash in the media. It housed the only known drug tunnel, between the US and Canada, that is or has been identified by authorities. You can read the whole story here at the DEA website, or you can read my abbreviated description below.
This house was in Lynden, WA (a few miles from Bellingham if traveling north on the Guide Meridian) and the residence was very close to the Canadian border. Driving down East Boundary Road on the Lynden side, drivers pass right by Canadian drivers on Zero Avenue on the other side. The long tunnel ran completely underground from a Quonset hut on the Canadian side to a residence on the US side. This was quite the operation, on the part of the criminals who dug a tunnel that went more than 350 feet, and also on the part of the RCMP and the US law enforcement agencies involved in shutting down the illegal operation.
The tunnel was dug starting on the Canadian side, and it went under the main public road (Boundary Road) that runs parallel to the border. The drug-runners dug the tunnel with hand shovels. Police intelligence, Canada side, had a hunch what was going on but major surveillance took place on both sides of the border. Not much drug traffic took place through this tunnel because, as soon as drugs started going under the border, police stepped in and arrested the parties involved. Cameras and wire taps were in place so police were, at all times, familiar with exactly what was taking place on both sides of the border. I have some official photos that will show you the setup. Most of this was no longer visible to me when the inspection took place.
This photo above is the entry into the tunnel, on the Canadian side. The dig started here. While I did not see this inside view, I could still see this Quonset hut when I looked across to the other side of the border.
This is the inside of the tunnel. A person could walk in it, if one walked stooped over. The criminals would dig and then put the 2x6's in place for support. Had they been thinking ahead they would have used pressure-treated lumber.
This cart was used to transport the contraband. Drugs were for sure going into the US, a couple times, while police cameras watched it all. The other concern was that the criminals had planned to move guns from the US side back up into Canada.
This is a view of the hole under the flooring at the house on the US side. This entry was in the living room in a corner. They had a bookcase that would slide over it so anyone casually coming inside would not see the hole. When I was there, the whole tunnel had been filled in with dirt and concrete so all I saw, under the bookcase, was a big block of concrete visible beneath the hole in the flooring. I got down in the hole in the floor just so I could say that I had done so. At one point, the hole would have connected to the crawl space but the concrete pour had isolated that area from the rest of the crawl space.
The photo below is what the house, US side, looked like from the front. It had roof leaks and a number of serious problems and my clients decided to walk. At that time, the house had been seized and was owned by the government. The feds were trying to sell it and they probably have by now.
Anyway, that is probably the most memorable house I have ever inspected due to the fame it received the result of illegal activities that took place on premises. For the curious, in this photo, the hole in the floor would have been on the inside, behind the corner that is to the right of the front porch -- just to the right of the column at the right.
Steven L. Smith
Bellingham WA Home Inspections
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That is indeed an interesting house. I 'll bet it felt pretty spooky!
Amazing Steve. Shame you didn't get to see it before they filled the tunnel.
Barbara,
It was pretty interesting. A bit spooky.
Jack,
Had the tunnel been there I could have made an extra quarter of a million that day.
Wow, that's kinda scary neat! Not so bad after the cops had sealed it all off I bet, but still. Woulda been neat to get a picture of you in the hole!
So I suppose Nutsy inspected the tunnel for you?
Sheree,
I did not take the number of photos I should have.
Charlie,
If you would read the blog, you would see that was pre-Nutsy as far as me knowing him. He was then an officer with Canadian law enforcement. Geez....put on your glasses. Just put your mouse over the official photo of him in the red serge.
Just trying to get the chronology right. I thought you said he was moonlighting with you at that time period because someone put the saddle on the horse with him under it----pissing off the horse to no end.
Steve - That 's pretty interesting. It is unbelievable what people would do to get drugs into the country.
Charlie,
Barbara is correct...you are way too jealous of my assistant. Now it has you using unseemly language in public.
Robert,
You are correct on that.
Steve, this is the Webster's definition of Jealousy-----with my appropriate comments.
1 a: intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness (I have no intention of interfering with your unnatural relationship with said squirrel----I am no squirrel whisperer and I definitely don't squirrel with squirrels) b: disposed to suspect rivalry or unfaithfulness (while I would be happy to "dispose" of Nutsy, the rest of the definition can be referred back to "a") 2:hostile toward a rival or one believed to enjoy an advantage (I do not consider Nutsy's propensity for drinking, carousing, and his preference for women's clothing being any indication that we are "rivals") 3: vigilant in guarding a possession <new colonies were jealous of their new independence - (Can't imagine how this would apply----I believe it is Nutsy that is the one that "hoards" things and comes the closest to living in "colonies")
Charlie,
He is in the Andes walking tightropes because you would not pay him the wages he says you promised. I am kind of surprised by that.
The only thing I remember ever "promising" is for him to be the guest food of honor at a barbeque----I think James will back me up on that.
Charlie,
You and James are such a motivated pair -- motivated for no good -- that I think you better find a better means of corroboration. One of you will lie about Nutsy and the other one will swear to it.
And you see a problem there?
You two would be a joke in front of a judge, when Nutsy shows up in his formal dress uniform. What a blushing pair of brides you two would be.
What an amazing story! If you had not been the blogger it would have been hard for me to believe!
I am at Coldwell Banker now.... I hope we can do some business together this year!
Jean,
Good luck there. I work with several folks from that office here.
Steve - Wow, what an interesting story. I love it. Always one for a good story :) - Rita
i once had a real estate client shopping for property adjacent to the 49th. I passed him by as it just seemed like an odd situation for me.
Steven, Interesting! Very interesting. I had never heard of this one but it is really amazing what criminals will do...
Steven, I'm glad I was able to stir your creative juices. This is quite an interesting story.
Now to Nutsy. As I recall Charlie is quite correct, Nutsy was promised a place of honor at the barbecue. Your assistant has fled from the responsibility of his misdeeds at Buell Inspections. Then has the audacity to ask for back wages.
Rita,
It is always nice to have a story that is memorable.
Robert,
That would be suspicious unless there was an obvious and reasonable reason the people wanted it like that.
Michael,
Least it was not a meth house.
James,
Do you think we could be serious here? Charlie has hosed Nutsy. Plain and simple. Just because Charlie writes a good blog does not mean he can run roughshod over his employees. Nutsy will be back. Due to confusion, after the runners burned off his sled in Barstow, he thought he was going to ride a burro or donkey that Barbara provided. He got the wrong mount and ended up herding llamas in the Andes. He has since been hired by an Andean mountain circus as a highwire walker and they are paying him well. I expect him back up here to run my firm when I go off to Mexico in a couple weeks. A publicity photo of Nutsy was sent to me.
Barbara,
Your blog is here. The video has since been taken off youtube. You can, under your photo, click on "tags" and it shows your key words. Find what you want, click on that.
Steve
Steven, you are so smart!! If we do a search on our activerain button, it didn't do a good job of finding it. I should have put Hank Williams in the title, shouldn't I? I think I may reblog that thing because I liked the idea I had. Thanks for finding it!
Steven, It's strange to see a creature that is a natural born climber need the aid of a pole to walk a wire. You would think Nutsy has great balance. I suspect he has become unbalanced and requires professional help.
James, I just had a really scary thought----Nutsy as a pole dancer!
Like a Chippendaleguy. The name sorta fits. The mental image is making me queasy.
James, I am SO SORRY---but it does indeed sound as if you have the image:) Picture this----a shaved squirrel with a Bikini on (hopefully---as completely naked would just be too much to bare:)
Pardon me guys, I hate to interupt your fantasies about Nutsy and his bod. The balance pole is purely a prop. In the Andes they have been very impressed by that. I will alert you now, I think he might have now left the Andes for parts unknown. I understand he is traveling at this moment. What kind of top-secret, important mission it might be is still not clear to me.
Steve
Steve, it seems to me that Nutsy is either living dangerously with his new "ride"----or as has been speculated in the past----"he is just dumb as a bag of hammers."
A shaved squirrel on a barbecue spit (no bikini undies, they would probably taste bad), now you're talkin'!
No speculation, He's dumber than a can of cashews and just as nutty.
Guys,
Wow. This is big news. I knew he was on the move. He is so shrewd, and determined, that we should have known that he would end up in Illinois. Remember he is working to be a viable candidate for Obama's vacated Senate seat. His efforts to convince the Governor there seem to be having an impact. In fact, the Gov, who is under assault, is holding a press conference to announce that Nutsy, who is highly respected as a marketing consultant, is going to try to keep his administration going. Who knows, if he can pull this off, Nutsy might end up in the senate. He is a great doctor of spin control. He misses not a single subtle detail when trying to spin a situation. You might be able to catch this press conference over at Cspan.
Since I moved to San Diego in 1993, the authorities have discovered probably 20 tunnels from Mexico into the United States. The longest one was almost a mile long and started in one of those Quonset huts in Mexico.
I've been fortunate that I've never had to inspect one of the houses on this side of the border.
Best wishes for health, happiness, peace, and prosperity in 2009.
Russel,
That does not surprise me. I read that several such tunnels exist to the south but not the north border.
Hey Steve,
That is a pretty neat story, thanks for sharing. Sooo, what side of the border are the criminals in jail?
Sean Allen
Sean,
The bulk of them, at least, are on our side. I have a number of friends in Canada law enforcement -- no not Nutsy -- and they like to let the US take the drug criminals when it works out so we can. We tend to have tougher laws on drugs.
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Hi
This is Lucky
I am new to this site. I think this site is providing information about drug intervention. I think drugs are very dangerous in the world. I think this site is to be awareness to all the people in the world. I think this site is to be useful to acknowledged to the public. I fully recommended about this site to all the people.
=====================
Lucky
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