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Busted: 6 Tried and Failed Ways to (Not) Smuggle Drugs

ByINGRID ROJAS
June 18, 2013, 8:50 PM

June 25, 2013— -- intro: In the high stakes world of international drug smuggling, anything is fair game. By land, by sea and by air, traffickers must find creative ways to get their contraband to you know where, the United States, the world's largest drug market according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Here are six tried and failed drug trafficking methods you shouldn't try at home.

quicklist: 1

title: Drug Canon

text: Where there's a will there's a canon. Mexican police confiscated this improvised drug canon used to hurl drugs over the border in March of 2013. It consisted of a long plastic tube (not pictured) hooked up to a tank, which in turn was connected to a car engine blowing compressed air. In this video, Mexican authorities explain the creative contraption.

media:19431714

quicklist: 2

title: Breast implants full of cocaine

text: Last December a Panamanian woman traveling from Colombia was stopped at Barcelona's international airport when she couldn't articulate her reason for traveling to the country. Upon further inspection, police noticed bloodied bandages under her breasts and a suspicious material peeking out. She was then taken to a hospital where they removed her breast implants containing 1.377 grams of cocaine.

media:19431499

quicklist: 3

title: Weed Catapult

text: In January 2011, National Guard troops monitoring the Naco, Arizona area, caught the medieval-inspired smugglers using a good ol' fashioned catapult to hurl packets of weed over the border. Here you can see infrared video of the inventive smugglers in action.

media:19431797

quicklist: 4

title: Drug Boat

text: Suspected drug smugglers raise their hands in surrender after a US Coast Guard unit spotted them speeding in the Pacific Ocean near Colombia on June 19, 2012. They were carrying 300 kilos of marijuana and 500 kilos of cocaine. Watch the drug bust as it happened. Univision's correspondent Ricardo Arrambari was embedded with the Navy Guard at the time of the bust.

media:19431950

quicklist: 5

title: Narco Tunnel

text: In August 2011, Mexican authorities discovered one of the most sophisticated narco tunnels to date, which started in Tijuana and ended in San Diego. The 800 foot-long tunnel had a ventilation system and electricity, and authorities estimate that it took two years to complete. Watch the story here.

media:19431964

quicklist: 6

title: Narco Submarine

text: Colombian authorities discovered this narco-submarine in December of 2012. It had the capacity to carry 8 tons of cocaine and has a range of 8,000 miles. And for those long trips, the submarine even had a bathroom and beds.

media:19440345

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