Smugglers Blast 85-Pounds of Pot 500 Feet Over U.S. Border Using...Drug Cannons

YUMA, Ariz. (TheBlaze/AP) -- U.S. Border Patrol agents say smugglers have come up with yet another, shall we say, creative way to get drugs in the country - a cannon.

Authorities say 33 cans of marijuana totaling 85 pounds (that's worth $42,500) were spotted Friday in a field near where the Colorado River crosses the U.S.-Mexico border. They believe the cans were launched about 500 feet into the U.S. using a pneumatic-powered cannon.

This field shows the cans littering the landscape after they were shot over the border. (Photo: USBP via Yuma Sun)

After searching the area, agents recovered a carbon dioxide tank.

"By actually shooting it over the fence, they don’t have to worry about mules or smugglers actually backpacking it across," Kyle Estes, Yuma Sector Border Patrol public affairs officer, said according to the Yuma Sun.

Here's a closer look at one of the cans. (Photo: USBP via Yuma Sun)

Mexican authorities were also notified and searched their side of the border.

Although someone must have been slated to pick up the cans in the U.S., the Yuma Sun reported a concerned citizen alerted authorities before that could happen. No arrests have been made and those on Mexico's side made off with the cannon itself.

Authorities say Border Patrol agents in the Yuma sector near the Arizona-California border are adapting and shifting resources as smugglers come up with new ways of transporting their contraband. One of these methods, according to the Yuma Sun, was ramp of sorts that was used by smugglers who tried to drive over the fence in October. They were unsuccessful when the SUV got stuck and fled the scene before Border Patrol arrived.

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