A marijuana cannon that was used to pass drugs across over the US border into California was recovered by Mexican police.

The makeshift cannon made of long plastic pipe and powered by a compressed air tank, according to The Associated Press. The device allegedly was used to launch marijuana along the California border in recent weeks. Some were able to fire package of nearly 30 pounds.

Authorities discovered the cannon Tuesday on the back of an old truck after US officers told Mexican police that they had been confiscating large number of drug packages that appeared to have been fired over the border.

This is not the first incident where a cannon was used to transport marijuana, last year US Border Patrol agents recovered more than 30 cans of marijuana in Yuma, Arizona near the Colorado River.

An investigation of the area "determined that the cans were fired from about 500 feet away with a pneumatic-powered cannon" and that a "carbon-dioxide tank was found nearby," according to NBC.

Officials in the US and Mexico are learning to adapt as drug traffickers come up with innovative smuggling techniques such as elaborate tunnels, built ramps and using slingshot devices.