SAN DIEGO, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. Border Tunnel Task Force in San Diego says seven large tunnels under the U.S.-Mexico border discovered in recent years have not been filled in.

Border officials said they worry the tunnels could be reused to smuggle people and drugs across the border, The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

The tunnels, including a half-mile tunnel stretching from San Diego to Tijuana and a 13-year-old sophisticated tunnel once referred to as the Taj Mahal of tunnels, have been plugged where they cross the border and at either end of the passageways, but most of the space inside the tunnels remains clear. As a result, smugglers can access the tunnels by digging around the stoppers.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials estimate it would cost about $2.7 million to fill the tunnels.

"I was shocked to learn that these tunnels haven't been filled in. They should be," said U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. "The department should move, find money and do it. This is a huge department with a huge budget. And if they don't have the money, they should tell us, and we will seek to get it in the emergency supplemental."

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