Practicing for when Trump’s wall goes up between Mexico and the United States? It looks like the catapult kids are back in action again, or at least trying.
This past week, our busy U.S. border agents in Arizona spotted a group of presumably “bad hombres” scurrying around, on their side of the fence, so they investigated.
To their surprise, they discovered a giant catapult contraption attached to the top of the border fence near the Douglas Port of Entry, which is about two hours southeast of Tucson, according to a statement released by the Customs and Border Protection.
The officers went on to search the area and found two bundles of weed, presumably all wrapped and ready to be propelled to freedom.
U.S. border officials dismantled the pot-slinging catapult, and Mexican authorities hauled it away. The Americans kept the 47 pounds of weed.
Judging from photos, the catapult appeared to be made from square tubing and a heavy spring welded together, with rope tied around parts of it.
A similar contraption was discovered in 2011 near Arizona when National Guard troops spotted the smugglers shooting weed over the border.
Trump’s Wall
On the same level of zaniness as catapulting weed through the air is Trump’s executive order, which we knew was coming, instructing Homeland Security “to immediately plan, design, and construct a physical wall along the southern border,” to prevent the entry of “unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband.”
Security experts have warned that, even if Trump builds his wall, to the tune of approximately $15 billion, it will do little to stop Mexican drug cartels from getting their products into the United States.
Good thing the wall “will pay for itself many, many, many times over,” according to Trump policy advisor Stephen Miller.
The more tech-savvy smugglers won’t be using makeshift catapults to send their contraband across the border when they can easily use drones, like when they sent 28 pounds of heroin into the U.S. in April 2015, then meth again in August 2015.
Somewhere between medieval catapults and high-tech drones is the old-fashioned air cannon.
The latest among many air cannon capers occurred this past December when Border Patrol agents caught two teenagers firing 34 pounds of weed across the border from Mexico into Naco, Arizona.
Then, of course, there are the tons of weed hidden in fruits and vegetables, some of which have been discovered but most likely tons more squeeze past border agents on a regular basis.
The point being, where there is a will, there’s a way. Where there is a wall, there’s someone who is going to figure out how to get under it, over it or go right through it.