U.S. Border Agents Briefly Detained 14 Mexican Soldiers, Seized Their Weapons After Accidentally Crossing the Border
U.S. border agents have shortly detained 14 Mexican soldiers after the group's two vehicles crossed into Texas at an international port of entry.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents had also taken the soldiers' weapons and temporarily handcuffed them. One of the soldiers had a small amount of marijuana in possession, according to a Breitbart News report.
CBP confirmed the incident in an email, saying that just after midnight today the CBP noted two Mexican military vehicles crossing the boundary and entering the U.S.
The soldiers have claimed to not have realized that they had crossed the international boundary.
Meanwhile, one of the 14 Mexican soldiers was assessed a civil penalty after CBP officers discovered a personal use amount of marijuana in his possession, according to an NBC DFW News report.
Mexican army officers had come for the soldiers, prompting CBP officials to return the soldiers' equipment and their vehicles.
The border crossing was closed for about two hours due to the incident, according to one witness of the event.
The witness said that the CBP agents had yelled at the soldiers to put their hands up and drop their weapons immediately.
Meanwhile, Mexico's Defense Ministry has yet to comment on the matter.
Mexican military forces have crossed the border in the past. However, it was usually in the areas where the border has no clear markings.
Mexican Soldiers Near the U.S. Border
On September 17, Mexican soldiers and police had killed nine suspected gunmen in shootouts near the U.S. border, according to a Border Report news release.
The Mexican troops came in for reinforcement when state police officers of Coahuila had come under fire during their patrol.
One of the two vehicles found at the scene had a fitted homemade steel-plate armor, which was called "monsters" and was often used by drug gangs in the region.
Ten weapons with a .50-caliber sniper rifle were found at the scene.
U.S.-Mexico Border Crisis
The U.S. Border Patrol had documented around 200,000 encounters with migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border in July.
The Pew Research Center noted that this was the highest monthly total in more than two decades.
The migrants being encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border were different in terms of demographic from those encountered in May 2019, which was the last major increase in southwest migration.
Single adults accounted for 53 percent of migrant encounters in July, which was a 28 percent increase in May 2019.
Meanwhile, people traveling in families showed a 38 percent portion, which was a decrease from 64 percent.
Mexican nationals had also accounted for a large share of encounters as compared to people from the Northern Triangle countries namely El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
U.S. President Joe Biden had made a series of promises during his presidential campaign to change U.S. immigration.
He had vowed to take urgent action to undo the policy of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
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This article is owned by Latin Post
Written by: Mary Webber
WATCH: U.S. border agents briefly detain 14 Mexican soldiers in El Paso - from SCCI Channel