Mexican police have discovered an enormous bazooka used to shoot packages of drugs across the border into Arizona.
The military and federal officers in Agua Prieta, Sonora also recovered 1,800 pounds of marijuana divided up into 200 packages and nearly 2,000 rounds of ammunition near the so-called weapon.
The powerful device used by smugglers was found inside a small van.
Mexican officials have again seized a cargo van containing an air cannon designed to launch bundles of marijuana over the fence separating Douglas, Arizona and the city of Agua Prieta
Mexican authorities seized a jury-rigged bazooka and nearly one ton of marijuana in the border town of Agua Prieta in Sonora state, the Mexican Attorney General said in a statement
The air cannon was designed to launch drugs into the United States
Authorities also found more than 1,800 pounds of marijuana, nearly 2,000 rounds of ammunition, and 26 magazines
Photographs provided by officials show a white van with a large steel pipe and air compressor inside that was said to launch the bundles.
Catapults and ultralight aircraft have also been used to move drugs across the border fence.
In February, Border Patrol agents found a catapult that was capable of hurling marijuana across the border. It was found near the Douglas Port of Entry.
In December 2016, two teenagers were arrested in Cochise County after an air cannon fired packages of marijuana over the border fence into the United States.
The tubular mechanism with a compressor was found inside a small van. Mexican authorities believe it was used to shoot drug packages over the border into the United States
Border Patrol agents in southern Arizona have seized a nearly 100-pound bundle of marijuana after spotting it flying over the border fence
Federal police discovered the van last week parked on a street in Agua Prieta, Mexico, which borders with Douglas (shown above on map)
Three months earlier, authorities in Agua Prieta found another air cannon inside a van that was used to shoot packages of marijuana across into the U.S. and the town of Douglas.
Federal authorities say in recent years, smugglers have thrown drug bundles over the border or shot them over with devices such as air-powered cannons and catapults.
Smugglers also have placed vehicle ramps next to the border fence or wall and using ultralight aircraft to drop shipments in the desert.
The Border Patrol has said in the past that the most common form of throwing bundles over the border fence involves softball-sized marijuana packages that sometimes land in residents backyards.
Smugglers pay people on the U.S. to retrieve the packages, which are then sent around the country.
Authorities in the US believe that traffickers have been using such homemade cannons since 2012. This particular one was found last year
In September 2016 Mexicoan federal police officers found a van with an air compressor and a metal tube that was nearly 10 feet long
The Border Patrol has said in the past that the most common form of throwing bundles over the border fence involves softball-sized marijuana packages that sometimes land in residential backyards. The Mexico-Arizona border in Sonoyta, Mexico is seen in the above stock image
High-pressure air cannons can launch much heavier packages.
Smugglers have also used trebuchets, a catapult-type launch that can be made out of wood.
Despite smugglers’ creative methods to cross drugs into the U.S., marijuana seizures have dropped significantly in the Southwest over the last several years.
Agents seized 2.5 million pounds at the Southwest border in 2011.
By last year, that number had dropped to 1.3 million pounds.
The Tucson Sector, which covers most of Arizona, also saw a steep drop in pot seizures, from 1 million pounds in 2011 to 728,000 pounds last year.