Although City and School Board elections are nonpartisan, most of the time the candidate's political affiliation is known. My mom was a die hard Democrat. I found this letter and I was impressed that Senator McCain took the time to write this. I am sure he sent it to many people, but it still means a lot that he would take the time to write it.
June 2, 1988
The Honorable Margaret S. Shannon
425 10th Street
Douglas, AZ 85607
Dear Margaret:
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your recent re-election to the City Council of Douglas.
As
you well know, I think running a city and being the elected official
closest to the electorate is one of the toughest jobs in America. Your
election is a tribute to your skills as a leader and to your community
involvement.
I
am confident that we can establish a strong working relationship in the
future. I think it is very important to maintain that relationship so
that we can tackle the crucial issues that face Arizona and the nation.
Please feel free to call me whenever you need assistance from the
federal government.
I
look forward to working with you as as we serve Arizona together in the
years to come. Again, please accept my heartiest congratulations on
your victory. Cindy and I wish you much success.
Sincerely,
John McCain
United States Senator
JM/mag
In
1990, a drug tunnel was found in Douglas. Here is the story from a newspaper. I will explain a little further on this post as
to the significance it has the this post.
WASHINGTON — The discovery of an elaborate 270-foot tunnel built under the
Mexican border by drug traffickers to haul large quantities of cocaine to an
Arizona warehouse was revealed Friday by federal officials.
Flabbergasted Customs Service agents described the million-dollar passageway as "something out of a James Bond movie," replete with electric lighting, concrete reinforcement and a hydraulic system that raised a game-room floor in a Mexico hide-out to provide entry to the secret border crossing.
Discovery of the tunnel--dug near an official border crossing in Douglas, Ariz.--confirmed the emergence of a long-rumored new dimension in international drug smuggling. Bush Administration officials said they now suspect that the Southwest border may have been breached by several such underground passages.
"We believe there are other tunnels, and we are working to find them," Customs Commissioner Carol Hallett said. "This shows how brazen they are."
My
mom was on the city council at the time. I am not sure exactly when
it was, but in June (probably 1991) my uncle Matt was down here in
Douglas and so was I. The assistant drug czar and Senator McCain were
coming to Douglas to to into the tunnel. My mom arranged for Matt and I
to be able to go into it with Senator McCain and the "czar."
I
will never forget that experience. It was in a warehouse right on the
border. It was connected to house in Agua Prieta. The house was right
on the border. It had a pool table with a hydraulic lift. That is
how they had access to it. On this side, it was covered by a storm
drain and you couldn't see it with the storm drain on. As soon as the
drain was off, there was a ladder going down.
We
didn't go very far down. I just remember that I could feel the
"evil." It is hard to explain how one can feel evil. The only other
time in my life I have ever felt that evil was the year that we lived in
Germany and visited Dachua which was a concentration camp near Munich.
I could feel the pure evil at that time.
Found some further information today (8/10):
El Chapo’s first tunnel was built in DOUGLAS Arizona 25 years ago.
The escape of drug kingpin "El Chapo" Guzman brought to light how sophisticated tunnels pose a "deep" problem for authorities, but they're nothing new along our southern border.
According to NBC News, from 1990 to 2014, 169 drug tunnels have been found along the border, with the first cross-border tunnel found in Douglas, Arizona, 25 years ago. More than 100 of them in Nogales, including the latest tunnel that was connected to a residential sewer line. Inside the latest tunnel, investigators found bundles of pot coming from Mexico.
“El Chapo” Guzman is known as the pioneer of tunnels and his first one was the one built here in Douglas.
Retired Federal Agent Grant Murray was the lead investigator in the Douglas drug tunnel and also searched for Guzman back in the 90’s.
“So in 25 years, technology for Guzman is basically the same," Murray said. "The tunnels are going longer.”
The Douglas tunnel was about the length of a football field, but Chapo's latest tunnel was a mile long.
Murray explained the similarities between the two as he compared them on a TV monitor. “What you're looking at here is the opening of the tunnel on the floor in the building on the U.S. side in Douglas, Arizona. If you look at the opening at the [Mexico] prison tunnel, it's basically the same.”
Even more similarities between the tunnels include the lighting systems. “That's an electrical conduit coming from Mexico, which was used to put light bulbs. And according to reports on the prison tunnel, they also had conduit with lighting.”
The Douglas tunnel is known as Chapo's $1.5 million 'James Bond Tunnel'. It was complete with a hydraulic system that raised the floor where a pool table sat. Underneath, a passage way from a house in Agua Prieta, to a warehouse in Douglas.
Murray added the tunnels had specific purposes; “to escape from prison and in Douglas to smuggle drugs.”
A year after Murray and his partner first broke through the tunnel in Douglas, they ended up in Los Angeles taking down part of Chapo's organization where they found his ledger. He said Chapo was responsible for smuggling, “27,000 kilos of cocaine, and almost $80 million in US dollars, all within a seven month period.”
As for finding Chapo again, “I believe they found him once, they’ll find him again.”
Murray said it took about a year to build the tunnel in Douglas and that's about how long people are saying it took to build Chapo’s getaway tunnel.
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