As the United States continues to increase its border security, drug smugglers are forced to up their creative efforts to get their drugs across the border. The newest development in the drug smuggling game is the marijuana cannon. It's not the most inconspicuous device, but it helped shoot drugs from Mexico into California, until police came and spoiled the fun for the cartel on Tuesday.
The cannon, which sat in the bed of a pickup truck, was simply a long plastic tube connected to a compressed air tank. The truck would cruise along the border as traffickers loaded the cannon with packages of marijuana, some containing up to 30 pounds, according to The Associated Press.
United States officials became suspicious after confiscating several large bundles of marijuana. They believed that the drugs were shot from Mexico and onto American soil. They tipped off the Mexican police who were then able to seize the cannon.
Back in December, U.S. Customs and Border Protection found more than 30 cans of marijuana scattered across Yuma, Arizona. The investigation "determined that the cans were fired from about 500 feet away with a pneumatic-powered cannon" and that a "carbon-dioxide tank was found nearby," according to NBC.
That particular cannon was never found, however Mexican border reported that they have confiscated similar cannons over the past several years.
Although it's disconcerting that drug traffickers are inventing more ways to smuggle drugs into the country, the fact that they have to resort to firing drugs across the border with a makeshift cannon proves that Border Protection is doing its job.
The war on drugs will never cease. As U.S. and Mexican officials work together to thwart traffickers' efforts, new inventive methods to smuggle drugs arise. Where there's a will, there's a way, and in such a lucrative market, there's always a will.
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