Drone Filled With Methamphetamine Crashes Into Supermarket Parking Lot Near Mexican Border

Looks like drug dealers from across the border in Mexico are coming up with new ways to bring in narcotics into the United States. The latest method that seems to have caught the fancy of drug dealers seem to be high tech drones that, until now, were not known to be used for such illicit activities. Not all attempts to bring the drugs into the U.S., however, succeed — as exemplified by this recent incident that happened in the Mexican border city of Tijuana, reports ABC News.

According to NBC San Diego, an attempt to smuggle narcotics into the United States failed after a drone carrying nearly six pounds of methamphetamine crashed on to the parking lot of a supermarket near the border. According to police authorities in Tijuana, the attempt to transport the drugs happened late on Tuesday night. However, before the drug-laden drone could enter the United States, a mechanical fault seems to have brought the drone down. The supermarket is not far from the San Ysidro border crossing — which is known to be among the busiest border crossings in the world.

Mexican police officials are still investigating the case and are looking to find the people behind the attempt to traffic methamphetamine using this drone. According to them, the nearly six kilograms of methamphetamine were found distributed in six different packets. All these packets were taped to the drone that had six propellers in all. Authorities have confirmed that the drone was being controlled by someone near the border using a remote control. They are, however, unsure as to why it crashed down into the parking lot. At this stage, they are unsure as to how long it would take them to track down the people behind this trafficking attempt.

While this might be the first time that reports of Mexican smugglers using drones to transport narcotics have come to the forefront, authorities in Mexico say that they have seen this happen many times in the past as well. In early 2014, there was a report about a drone filled with marijuana, cellphones, and tobacco being found near a prison in South Carolina. In the past, drug traffickers have also attempted to use ultralight aircraft and even catapults to bring drugs into the United States.

[Image via NBC San Diego]