Toronto authorities are puzzled after discovering a large, sophisticated tunnel between the Rexall Centre and York University.
The CBC reports that the tunnel was dug underneath woods near the two facilities. A Toronto Region Conservation Authority employee found the tunnel by the TRCA headquarters at 5 Shoreham Dr. in January.
The tunnel was filled in by officials. Before it was filled, it had lights and was powered by a generator.
It’s unclear what the tunnel was used for.
The summer’s Pan Am Games will be held at the Rexall Centre.
Ray Boisvert, who is the former assistant director of intelligence at CSIS, told the CBC that the discovery is odd.
“First and foremost is the question around the context of the tunnel — where it is positioned? How deep was it? How accessible was it? And what sort of things could be sent through that tunnel, being people or material,” Boisvert was quoted as saying.
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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS update:
Europol chief says more cooperation needed to counter terror
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Intelligence and law enforcement agencies across the European Union have to cooperate better to fight against the threat of terrorism, the head of EU police organization Europol said Monday.
Speaking at a meeting with foreign journalists in the Netherlands, Europol Director Rob Wainwright said his organization can help track extremists, their arms and cash across borders as the continent ramps up its counterterror operations in the aftermath of the deadly attacks this year in Paris and Copenhagen.
Europol has built up a database of about 3,000 people who traveled to fight in Syria and Iraq — though Wainwright says the number is likely much higher.
By cross-referencing names on the database with other information flowing into Europol’s purpose-built headquarters in The Hague, “we begin to see patterns emerging — connections ... between different countries in ways the investigators were not aware of in the first place,” Wainwright said.
He added: “We can begin to see what the strategic dimensions of the problem — who ... is controlling the recruitment of these people, who’s financing them, who’s managing their travel movements to and from Syria and Iraq.”
EU leaders agreed earlier this month to a raft of counterterrorism measures aimed at protecting their countries against terror, signaling a key role for Europol and its overarching vision of the threat.
The Hague-based organization has for years helped coordinate the fight against cross-border crime including money laundering, cybercrime and arms trafficking — all areas identified by EU leaders as key battlegrounds in the fight against terrorism.
