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Infilnews 13, May 2002

Los Angeles Artist Finds Interchange Confusing, Makes Own Sign
Caltrans, the organization that oversees California's extensive roadway systems, was chagrined this week to learn that a directional sign that has been in place for nine months alongside Los Angeles' Harbor Freeway is not one of their own. The sign, painstakingly crafted in Caltrans' style by local artist Richard Ankrom, was hung in order to help motorists better find their way through what Ankrom thought was a poorly marked interchange. Ankrom, an artist and sometimes sign-painter, hung the sign himself last year dressed in a hard-hat and orange vest, and had friends videotape the event. Caltrans has opted to leave the helpful sign in place for the time being. (Thanks to Doug for this story.)

Tunnel Used for Drugs
United States federal agents were dismayed last month to find an 85-foot-long tunnel underneath a US Customs parking lot in Nogales, AZ. The tunnel began in Mexico and ended underneath a parking lot just past the Customs lot. The tunnel, which was braced with wood and wired with electricity tapped from the Customs lot, was discovered when a security guard noticed a depression in the ground over which the tunnel ran. The tunnel, most likely used for drugs, was the ninth of its kind found at the Nogales entry point in the past seven years.

Tunnel Used for Loot
New York City police discovered buried treasure this week when they raided an underground maze of tunnels beneath lower Manhattan shops and recovered piles of CDs, DVDs, incredible amounts of counterfeit watches, and other items worth more than $100 million US. The tunnel raid was the result of a three-month investigation.

Men Break into Camp Pendleton Fridge, Throw Food
Four Los Angeles area men pleaded guilty to trespassing charges this week after breaking into the U.S. military's Camp Pendleton and having a bitchin' food fight. The men drove into Camp Pendleton on April 4 and presented an expired Marine Corps badge to a guard. Once inside the camp, the men headed for the dining hall and picked a lock on a refrigerator, proceeding to eat and throw about 400 pounds of food at one another. The men told police that they broke into the fridge and videotaped the food fight because they wanted to show how lax the base's security was.

Ambulance Chaser Gets Comeuppance, Loses Rights
Stephen Ferry, a freelance photographer in New York City, admitted to the New York Supreme Court this week that he impersonated a firefighter on September 11 in order to gain entry to Ground Zero. Ferry admitted to boarding a rescue truck and donning "certain rescue gear only in order to protect myself without permission to do so." Charged with criminal impersonation, Ferry was ultimately only required to plead guilty to criminal possession of a forged instrument - the forged New York State driver's license he presented when stopped at the same scene a few days later. As part of a plea bargain, Ferry was not given prison time but instead stripped of all rights to the hundreds of photographs he took on September 11 and September 13, 2001.

Call for Infilnews Submissions
As always, Infilnews welcomes and encourages your contributions. Please forward any articles of interest in the areas of exploration, construction, infrastructure, infiltration, and so forth, to liz@infiltration.org.

Call for Zine Submissions
Infiltration is encouraging submissions for our upcoming Secret Societies, Churches, and Minneapolis issues. If you've got any good letters or tales relating to any of those subjects, please please email them to ninj@infiltration.org and/or liz@infiltration.org. Thank you!

NEW ISSUE!
We are pleased to announce that Infiltration #18, the "Where are They Now?" issue, is somewhat warm off the presses. Released just at the tail end of April, issue 18 revisits many of the sites poked and prodded in earlier issues, including the Royal York Hotel, Toronto Union Station, and Saint Michael's Hospital. The issue takes a look not only at what changes these institutions have undergone on their own, but the possible effects that urban exploration (and the publicity given to such exploration) has had on security and infrastructure at these sites. You can get a copy by sending $2 (US/CDN) cash to PO Box 13, Station E, Toronto, ON M6H 4E1, Canada.

Thank you for reading Infilnews. Please visit our friends at Urban Exploration News for other juicy tidbits of this nature.

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