Video catches drug smugglers using catapult to fling pot over border
ASSOCIATED PRESS January 27, 2011 1:12PM
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Updated: January 27, 2011 1:29PM
HERMOSILLO, Mexico (AP) — Surveillance video shows drug smugglers using an old invention as a new way to move marijuana across the border from Mexico to Arizona.
National Guard troops operating a remote surveillance system at the Naco Border Patrol Station say they observed several people preparing a catapult and launching packages over the fence late last week.
A Mexican army officer says the 3-yard tall catapult was found about 20 yards from the U.S. border on a flatbed towed by a sports utility vehicle.
The officer says the catapult was capable of launching 4.4 pounds of marijuana at a time. He says soldiers seized 35 pounds of pot, the vehicle and the catapult.
The smugglers left before they could be captured.
