A Nogales, Ariz., family discovered this 23.8-pound package of marijuana had crashed through the roof of their carport and crushed their dog's unoccupied kennel. KGUN-TV video screenshot

NOGALES, Ariz., Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Police in Arizona said a 24-pound bundle of marijuana that crashed to earth outside a family's home likely fell from a plane on its way to make a delivery.

Bill and Maya Donnelly said they heard a sound in the early morning hours Tuesday that sounded like monsoon thunder outside their Nogales home, only a few hundred yards from the Mexican border. They discovered later in the day that a bundle of marijuana had apparently fallen from the sky, punched a hole in their carport and crushed their dog's unoccupied backyard kennel.


"I went out to investigate, and sure enough, I looked up to see the hole, and then my eyes trailed down and the big dog's house was destroyed. It made a hole in that hard plastic doghouse, and the bundle was inside," Maya Donnelly told Nogales International.

Nogales Police Department investigators told the Donnelly family the bundle, which weighed in at 23.8 pounds, likely fell from an ultralight aircraft that crossed the border and dropped one of its packages prematurely.

"Thank God it didn't land on our house," Bill Donnelly said. "Or over one of the kids' rooms."

Police said the nearly $10,000 package of marijuana caused about $500 worth of property damage.