If you've seen Monty Python's The Holy Grail, you may remember the French catapulting farm animals over the castle walls onto King Arthur. Now, it's drugs over the US-Mexican border.

Mexican authorities seized two catapults recently that were being used to "toss" drugs over the US border.  In perhaps the first concrete example of the billion dollar surveillance camera system working along the Arizona border,  US officials watched two crews in the northern border state of Sonora wheel two 9 foot devices up to within a few yards of the border, and toss bundle after bundle of drugs across.  These devices were capable of tossing a 5 lb brick of  contraband 150-200 feet across..making sure they cleared whatever security obstacles were on the US side.  Video crews alerted the US Border Patrol, who then contacted Mexican authorities who captured the 'pults and their crews.  However, because the only drug was marijuana, US officials believe they may have been small time operators, because larger drug operations would not risk much more expensive drugs such as heroin or cocaine to such a process that would leave the drugs exposed until a US based cartel crew could retrieve them.  But other officials believe this method is being used far more often because the catapults are small, easy to hide and transport, and  the US security is based upon looking for vehicles, airplanes, boats, even submarines and sophisticated smuggling equipment.  They can easily be towed behind almost any vehicle, are quiet, and the units seized by Mexican Authorities could be disassembled in less than five minutes!

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