Police believe it was a form of cannon, meant to launch packages of drugs over the Mexico-U.S. border.
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Upon inspecting the vehicle cops found an air compressor, a gas engine, a storage tank and an approximately 3-meter metal tube described as a “homemade bazooka” that was apparently used to “launch projectiles” over the border fence into the United States.
Whether hidden in cargo, carted in tunnels, via drug mules, catapulted or carried by drones, illicit drugs are smuggled into the US through a dizzying array of means.
The van was found abandoned on Saturday in the town of Agua Prieta, Sonora, across the border from Douglas, Arizona.
In 2011, the Mexican army seized two catapults allegedly used to launch marijuana bundles across the Arizona border.
Smugglers have also been known to use a trebuchet, or catapult.
Authorities in the USA believe that traffickers have been using such homemade cannons since 2012.
Andy Adame, who was a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the time, said the homemade cannon discovered in Mexicali was “the first one that I’ve seen”.
The one in 2013 was fixed to a pickup truck, allowing the suspects to “drive up to the border, launch their contraband and drive away”, he said.
Esparza said agents in Southern California have not seen any cannons since the 2013 incident.
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The cannon could have been built to shoot drugs across the border, authorities said.
