BENEATH the glittering hotels and neon-lit casinos of Las Vegas, miles of pitch-black tunnels reeking of urine, excrement and chemicals hide America’s dirty secret.
On the surface, a city of capitalism, wealth and greed visited by thousands of Brit tourists every year, where affluent punters gamble away millions before tucking into gold-leaf coated steaks.
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But away from the slots, super cars and showbiz glamour lies a reality so much darker and more sinister than any visitor could imagine.
Welcome to the infamous Vegas tunnels, a subterranean world that thousands call home, but where drug abuse and the threat of death rule supreme.
In one of these storm drains, too dark even for a phone torch, lives ex-waitress Fortune, 48, in a tunnel only accessible via a four sq ft hole.
Caesar’s Palace may be just yards above, but luck is not on Fortune’s side as she struggles to survive or even to just stay hydrated as summer temperatures soar above 40 degrees celsius.
“We are a dime a dozen down here,” she says.
“I am not trying to minimise my situation, but America doesn’t want the world to see us.”
A step towards the light reveals black lesions, scars and wounds that weep over her gaunt, pale face.
Hip issues and unemployment led Fortune to become addicted to prescription pills, which then spiralled into homelessness.
She tells how her two children, who she raised in the city, failed to rescue her from seven years on the streets.
“They know how I live. They don’t talk to me anymore.” she says.
“I didn’t raise them to be friends with a crazy woman who does drugs in the wash [the name for the tunnels].
“I’m embarrassed to be here. It f***ing sucks. But I feel safer in these tunnels than anywhere else in this city.”
Maintaining her sense of humour, she adds: “It could be worse, I could be insane by now – instead of only half insane.”
Behind her a gruff male voice moans: “Come back and do this s***.”
The conversation ends and she heads into the darkness.
“I am a realist. My drugs are waiting,” she says.
Subterranean city
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Fortune is just one of at least 2,000 people living in the 600 miles of tunnels, while about 8,000 people in total are homeless in the Sin City area.
The city’s homelessness crisis is already at a 13-year high and the latest census recorded a 20 per cent increase in just a year, with many predicting this will rise further as a result of a rise in the cost of living.
Nevada also has the worst unemployment rate in the US – almost six per cent – and a shortage of low income housing, according to Jamie Sorenson, the director of Social Service for Clark County.
Many beg on sidewalks, rummage through bins, steal from tourists or grab abandoned booze or food from Strip spots.
Police and security often evict these “desperate souls” within moments of spotting them at work, fearing it will blight tourists’ enjoyment in the entertainment capital of the world.
For the bathroom there is always a porta-potty on construction sites, gas stations, and local parks are open 24/7. You can pee outside, and go in a bag for anything else
Kyle
Dressed in clean clothes from a mission charity, Kyle still found living close to casinos to be useful.
“You don’t have to go too far to find food, drink, steal, or panhandle near casinos – the shelters and charities hand out food and water,” he says.
Appliance repairman Kyle, 27, originally from Orange County, California, has been homeless for three years after splitting up with his fiancée.
He says: “For the bathroom there is always a porta-potty on construction sites, gas stations, and local parks are open 24/7. You can pee outside, and go in a bag for anything else.”
Smiling, he adds: “I have no faith in the government in doing anything.
“I prefer it out here because shelters have open sleeping bays which feel more sketchy, as so many of us were crammed together I didn’t feel safe.”
Makeshift homes
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Throughout the tunnels people collect abandoned furniture, appliances and trash to furnish their homes.
Car batteries are wired up to air fryers for cooking, while buckets next to washing up liquid make for a laundry area.
Discarded bikes, scooters, shopping carts and wheelchairs, meanwhile, offer transport options.
Outside a tunnel near the Aria Casino, a disregarded solar panel connects to a makeshift apartment where it powers lights, a socket for phone charging and even a small electric skillet.
Scruffy-haired and sunburned Brandon, 41, admits: “I have pretty much accepted that I am always going to be on the streets, because I’ve lived like this since I was eight years old.
I have pretty much accepted that I am always going to be on the streets, because I’ve lived like this since I was eight years old
Brandon
“I was married for seven years, and she stayed with me in the tunnels, but we split. “
Originally from Riverside, California, Brandon earns cash selling items on the Strip and by being a street entertainer.
He even once found fame online for being “the man who you could kick in the nuts for $20” – but police and casino security teams have now barred him from pavements and casinos.
“I was supporting my wife with that, but they didn’t like the attention. We had a business license to do it, but then we lost it,” he adds.
“Now if I try to do that, they are on me quick and make me leave.”
Silent suffering
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Inside, TT, 31, and friend Knuckles, 36, sit on chairs inside their “living room”.
An upset TT is back in the tunnel for a third time after recently being legally evicted from her apartment over “some problems”.
“It feels like Hell,” she said, admitting that after spending her youth in foster care there were never any “lessons how to navigate life”.
But one tunnel couple, Crystal and Michael, boast of being “settled and happy” after dragging all their possessions 75ft inside their tunnel.
With a blue pipe by her side, 32-year-old Crystal from South Carolina proudly showed off her private chamber – a mattress dropped alongside piles of clothes, belongings and even a giant stuffed bunny.
F*** the government. They don’t want to do sh** for us
Crystal
Meanwhile ex-tourist attraction supervisor Michael, 46, who lost his house because of “bad financial decisions”, believes that “people living like us don’t want no bother”.
But like others, he was sceptical of how the government could help.
“They want us off the streets, but don’t want to help or pay anything to help us get in homes or get jobs,” he says.
Crystal adds: “F*** the government. They don’t want to do s*** for us. If you don’t got money they are not interested [sic].”
Armed raiders
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A few hundred metres away live former landscape gardeners Tim and Eva Marie, both 49.
Living in a makeshift home constructed from tents and plywood, they paint a far darker picture.
“Safety is a big issue,” says Tim. “Knuckleheads come through here all the time trying to steal stuff with weapons – batons, knives, guns.
“The police do not respond at all. Self-policing is what we have to do… My issue is the drug addicts hitting on my wife, because she is not as tough as she thinks.”
Eva agrees, adding: “It is not easy out here, but we have each other.
The police do not respond at all. Self-policing is what we have to do… My issue is the drug addicts hitting on my wife, because she is not as tough as she thinks
Tim
“We have some sense of community, but there are people who suffer from mental health issues and can be dangerous.
“We try to keep to ourselves, to stay away from the drama – the fentanyl users, we try to keep those people at arm’s lengths.”
The use of narcotics among those living underground is a major concern for law enforcement, and signs of drug abuse are rife.
Blow torches for cooking crack, meth pipes, and bongs litter the floors, as do butane torches.
Lidocaine and antiseptic burn spray canisters strewn showed clear signs of ‘huffing” – a wide spread trend where users feel a muscle spasming high from inhaling ethyl chloride, which can be lethal.
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Fentanyl, which can cost as little as $5 (£3.70) a pill, has killed at least two dozen homeless in the last few weeks.
Other street drugs like meth, heroin and crack cocaine are often laced with deadly synthetic opioids.
Nearly 75,000 people in the US died of fentanyl overdoses in 2023 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but figures for mixed narcotic deaths are not recorded.
According to a police officer we speak to, the dealers – known as “D men” – offer low prices to encourage higher usage, addiction and “guaranteed repeat customers”.
People are dropping like flies. Fentanyl is in everything now
Donica Martinez
Though the tunnels may seem a world away from the casinos up above, the tactics used are much the same.
Cocaine prices start at a couple of dollars, while $10 (£7.50) lands an addict a tenth of a gram of black tar heroin – and stumping up for more can get you freebies.
As many as 80 per cent of the homeless are estimated to have addiction issues.
Drugs provide an escape for those living in the tunnels, who are often also battling traumas associated with things like domestic violence, prostitution, criminal records, family woes or financial issues.
“Not everybody in tunnels are there because they do drugs,” says Donica Martinez, a case worker for non-profit organisation Shine a Light, which helps people living there.
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“It is the majority, but others are there because they got fired, divorced, lost their house, had financial issues or split with family.
“Something like that 80 per cent of Americans are one pay cheque, life disaster or major medical bill away from being homeless.”
The 44-year-old is in a better place than others to understand the reality of tunnel life.
Just three years ago Donica was addicted to heroin and living underground as a prostitute.
You want to numb and get as high as possible to forget about the garbage you’ve been through
Donica Martinez
Her seven years of homelessness were spent running from her violent pimp and ex-boyfriend, and then ending up in jail without access to her two children.
“People are dropping like flies. Fentanyl is in everything now,” she says.
“There was a batch of black tar heroin mixed in fentanyl, which we called ‘Black Death’ because of the amount of people overdosing.
“You want to numb and get as high as possible to forget about the garbage you’ve been through.”
But the battle to help those in need has been made more difficult due to cuts imposed at state level and by President Trump.
He recently signed an executive order to make it easier for cities to remove homeless people from the streets – part of an initiative to “end crime and disorder on America’s streets”.
Charities warned of a bleak outlook, with many expecting their funding to be cut by as much as a third.
“The people who have mental health disorders, the people who have substance use disorders, they shouldn’t be on the streets, and we need to get them out,” says Dave Marlon of non-profit Vegas Stronger.
“If you’re, at the same time, cutting the coverage for this and saying, ‘Everybody needs to get help,’ something’s got to give.”
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