• Pot shot: An improvised cannon that was confiscated Tuesday is displayed in Mexicali, Mexico. Police in the border city say the device was used to hurl packets of marijuana across a border fence into California.
    Pot shot: An improvised cannon that was confiscated Tuesday is displayed in Mexicali, Mexico. Police in the border city say the device was used to hurl packets of marijuana across a border fence into California. | AP

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Police seize border ‘drug cannon’

AP

MEXICALI, MEXICO – Police in the border city of Mexicali say they have seized a powerful improvised cannon used to hurl packets of marijuana across a border fence into California.

Police told the Televisa network that the device was made up of a plastic pipe and a crude metal tank that used compressed air from the engine of an old car. The apparatus fired cylinders packed with drugs that weighed as much as 13.5 kg, police said.

It was confiscated last week after U.S. officers told Mexican police that they had been seizing a large number of drug packages that appeared to have been fired over the border. Mexican border police have recovered a series of similar devices in recent years.

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Pot shot: An improvised cannon that was confiscated Tuesday is displayed in Mexicali, Mexico. Police in the border city say the device was used to hurl packets of marijuana across a border fence into California. | AP

Crime & Legal