A very GRAVE crime: Drug smugglers caught after sniffer dogs find marijuana hidden inside a marble headstone being sent to a funeral in the U.S. from Mexico

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Smugglers were caught trying to take marijuana into the US from Mexico by hiding the drugs inside a marble headstone being sent to a funeral.

The headstone was being moved in a box through Mexico City International Airport when sniffer dogs alerted customs officers to the package.

They opened it up and found the black marble stone wrapped in cellphane and destined for an address in the United States.

Smugglers were caught trying to take marijuana into the US from Mexico by hiding the drugs inside a marble headstone being sent to a funeral

According to police sources, the female sniffer dog trained to find drugs, immediately alerted her handler to the package, which was sat in the cargo area of a parcel services company.

When officers unwrapped the box from Zapopan in the Mexican state of Jalisco, they found the headstone.

It read: 'In loving memory of Pedro Huerta - to love in the hearts of those we love is never to die.'

It also had birth and death dates engraved in the marble.

But when they decided to break inside the stone, they found a hidden plastic parcel of suspicious green herbs, which was later identified as 40 pounds marijuana.

The evidence and the narcotic substnaces have been handed over to the Mexican state, who are beginning an investigation to find the smuggler.

According to police sources, the female sniffer dog trained to find drugs, immediately alerted her handler to the package

They are reportedly liaising with US officials to have the delivery address checked as well.

The discovery comes a week after 10 tonnes of marijuana was seixed in an elaborate tunnel that extended into San Diego from Tijuana.

Two Mexican government security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the passage belonged to the Sinaloa drug cartel, which is run by fugitive kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman.

The discovery on Wednesday marks one of the longest and more sophisticated clandestine tunnels found on the U.S.-Mexico border.