Smugglers have repeatedly sawed through newly-installed sections of President Trump’s border wall in recent months with “commercially available power tools,” The Washington Post reports.
The smugglers have been able to open up holes big enough for people and drug loads to pass through.
The holes using a cheap cordless tool that costs as little as $100.
“After cutting through the base of a single bollard, smugglers can push the steel out of the way, creating an adult-size gap. Because the bollards are so tall — and are attached only to a panel at the top — their length makes them easier to push aside once they have been cut and are left dangling,” The Post reported.
Smugglers have also been able to scale the wall with makeshift ladders.
The government has not disclosed these breaches and it is unclear how many times they have occurred.
Cartels adapt to new barrier:
Ron Vitiello, who the former head of US Border Patrol and acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that the wall is not going to stop the Mexican cartels, which generate billions through smuggling operations to the US.
“The cartels will continue to innovate, and they’re not just going to leave San Diego because the wall gets better,” Vitiello told The Post. “That’s life on the border.”
Vitiello, who helped oversee the development of the fence prototypes, said that the wall is not what it could be if Congress had allocated more funding.
“The bollards are not the most evolved design; they are the most evolved that we could pay for,” Vitiello said. “We never said they would be an end-all, be-all.”
Trump dismisses report:
After earlier declaring that the wall was impenetrable, Trump shrugged off the report of smugglers sawing through his wall.
"We have a very powerful wall," he said. "But no matter how powerful, you can cut through anything, in all fairness."
“But, we have a lot of people watching,” he added. “Cutting is one thing, but it’s easily fixed. One of the reasons we died it the way we did, it’s very easily fixed.”
