Border Patrol agents arrested two teenagers in Naco on Wednesday after an air cannon fired bundles of marijuana over the border fence into the United States.
The teenagers were found with a bundle that weighed 34 pounds and was molded into a cylindrical shape, the Border Patrol said in a news release Friday.
Agents seized the marijuana and referred the teenagers to the Cochise County Attorney for prosecution through Operation Immediate Consequence. They face up to 18 months in prison, the agency said.
In an effort to deter juveniles from getting involved with drug smuggling. Cochise County authorities may prosecute them as adults, the Arizona Republic reported in August.
“Smuggling organizations often take advantage of teens, lying to them about their chances of being prosecuted for their roles in smuggling attempts,” Patrol Agent in Charge of the Brian A. Terry Border Patrol Station Michael Hyatt said in the news release. “In many cases, they do not realize the true consequences of their actions.”
In September, authorities found a roughly 10-foot-long air cannon inside a van in Agua Prieta, Mexico, which they believed was used to shoot packages of marijuana into Douglas, Arizona.
