A drug smuggler accidentally dropped 26 pounds of marijuana worth $10,000 from an aircraft and crushed a doghouse

Bill and Maya Donnelly awoke to what sounded like thunder in the early morning hours, but dismissed it as a typical monsoon storm and went back to sleep.

Later that morning, Mrs. Donnelly noticed broken wood around the carport of her Nogales, Arizona home which is a few hundred yards from the US-Mexico border.

"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," Donnelly told Nogales International.

Inside the bundle was roughly 26 pounds of marijuana - a package that authorities say was worth $10,000 and likely was dropped there accidentally by a drug smuggler's aircraft.

Their dog was not in his house at the time.

A Nogales police officer noted in the incident report that the bundle "had a plastic bracket, taped with black electrical tape," which may have been used to affix the load to a plane, the Nogales International reports.

Nogales Police Chief Derek Arnson said it's the first time in his three-year tenure that he's ever seen a load of drugs hit a building.

"Someone definitely made a mistake, and who knows what the outcome of that mistake might be for them," Arnson said.

Maya Donnelly said she thinks it's unlikely someone will come looking for the drugs, which are now in police custody. Arnson agreed but said police have boosted patrols in the Donnellys neighborhood for now.

The family will have to pay the estimated $500 in repairs, as well as pay for a new home for their German Shepherd, Hulk. But the scenario could have been much worse for the couple and their three teenage daughters.

"Where it landed was clear on the other side of the house from the bedrooms," Maya Donnelly said. "We were lucky in that sense."

Friends and family also have gotten a laugh. Several joked that the couple could have profited from the surprise package.

"That's what everybody says: 'Why did you call 911?'" Maya Donnelly said. "But how can you have a clear conscience, right? We could have made lots of home repairs with that."