President Trump’s proposed wall along the US-Mexico border is stupid for many reasons. But one of the most obvious reasons is that it’s really easy to get over the wall using modern technology. That’s precisely what an American man did recently when he tried to smuggle 13 pounds of meth from Mexico using a hobby drone.
The Associated Press reports that an American citizen by the name of Jorge Edwin Rivera has been arrested for transporting methamphetamine into the country using the drone pictured above. Rivera has reportedly told authorities that he’s done it roughly half a dozen times since March, completely undetected. His latest haul was 13.44 pounds, an unusually large shipment.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents spotted the drone near the existing border fence (yes, the US already has walls along the border) at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, close to San Diego. They followed the drone to Rivera, who allegedly had large plastic-wrapped bags of meth on him. Rivera, who’s 25-years-old was just 2,000 yards from the border.
It’s unclear how many trips the drone needed to conduct in order to smuggle that much meth over the border. Photos released by CBP suggest that this haul would’ve been the exact weight limit for a single flight. The drone Rivera allegedly used looks like a DJI Matrice 600, which has a payload limit of just over 13 pounds.
“Due to the agents’ heightened vigilance, this drone smuggling scheme was stopped before these dangerous narcotics could enter our communities,” said Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Boone Smith in a statement.
The meth has a street value of roughly $46,000, according to CBP. Rivera is being held without bail and is scheduled to be arraigned September 7th. The suspect reportedly told police that he receives just $1,000 for taking such a huge risk in smuggling drugs into the country.
If President Trump is really serious about stopping drugs from crossing the US-Mexico border and he insists that a wall is the only answer, he’s going to need a bigger wall. Like 8,200 feet bigger. That’s the altitude limit for the DJI Matrice 600 drone. Best of luck, Mr. President.