YUMA, ARIZ. (AP) -- Seven members of a Mexican army patrol apparently became disoriented and accidentally crossed Friday into the United States near Yuma, the U.S. Border Patrol said.
The incident occurred along the Colorado River's western international boundary, about 12 miles north of the San Luis port of entry.
Border Patrol spokesman Michael Lowrie said the soldiers drove their camouflage-painted Humvee about a quarter-mile east of the international boundary into U.S. territory, but remained west of a U.S. fence situated along a levee east of the river.
The international boundary essentially runs down the middle of the river, he said.
Another Border Patrol spokesman, Michael Bernacke, said they did not cross any fencing from the west.
The river snakes with a number of bends and twists as it flows south and becomes the international boundary, with the border poorly marked in the area.
Miguel Escobar Valdez, the Mexican consul in Yuma, said the crossing was unintentional.
"This happens sometimes, and what we do know is that these Mexican military personnel were conducting some sort of surveillance operation against drug smuggling when they crossed inadvertently.
"They didn't realize they had crossed into the U.S. The border is very near at that particular spot, and to top everything, they were running out of fuel," Escobar said.
He said the soldiers tried to ask some construction workers in the neighborhood where they might find some fuel, at which point they realized they were in the United States.
Meanwhile, a local resident noticed the soldiers were Mexican and notified the Border Patrol, which dispatched a Customs and Border Protection aircraft to verify the incursion while agents on the ground also responded, Bernacke said.
Escobar and Bernacke said the soldiers identified themselves and indicated they were on patrol when they got lost and disoriented.
"Nobody drew a weapon," Bernacke said. "They relinquished their weapons upon command. They were respectful toward the agents and cooperated with them."
The soldiers were taken to the San Luis port of entry, where they were repatriated across the border, turned over to their commanding officer.
Bernacke said that the soldiers were from a unit not regularly assigned to Mexico's northern border areas.
"In this kind of law enforcement operation, from time to time there are involuntary incursions both by U.S. and Mexican personnel," Escobar said. "As always, Mexico is committed to solve this in a very cooperative manner."
In recent years, there have been numerous incidents in which Mexican military personnel have crossed the border into the United States. In an August incident, four Mexican soldiers crossed the border along the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation southwest of Tucson.
They crossed in an area fenced only with barbed wire and pointed their rifles for about four minutes at a Border Patrol agent before he convinced them who he was and they realized where they were and retreated to Mexico.
(Copyright ©2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKGBT