TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) —
Mexican law enforcement on Thursday crossed into Arizona by helicopter
and fired two shots at U.S. border agents, a border patrol union leader
says.
A Mexican law enforcement
chopper crossed about 100 yards north into the Arizona desert, the U.S.
Border Patrol said in a statement. The helicopter then fired two shots
on the Tohono O'Odham Indian Nation, which sits on the border. Border
patrol union leaders say the Mexicans fired at agents but that none of
them were hurt.
However, Mexican
authorities have denied shooting at agents and say they were under
attack during a mission to find smugglers on the border.
Tomás Zerón, the director
of the Mexican attorney general's office investigative office, said
that Mexican military and federal police who were conducting an
operation on a ranch in Altar, Sonora, were shot at by criminals.
Mexican authorities never fired any weapons and in fact never crossed
into the U.S. side of the border, he said.
Art del Cueto, president
of the local border patrol union, said four agents were in a marked
patrol vehicle when they were shot at.
"They could say they
didn't fire at the agents intentionally. But for them to say that they
were no shots fired within the United States, toward the United States
Border Patrol, is a lie. They got in contact with our managers and
apologized for the incident," del Cueto said.
The Mexican helicopter
was 15 yards from the border agents when they were came under fire, Del
Cueto said. He's also concerned that Tucson sector officials didn't
notify the next shift of border agents that there had been a shooting,
he said.
"... I think our managers
within the area should have definitely informed the oncoming shift this
had happened. We're always on high alert, but I think it would raise a
fear level for our agents," del Cueto said.
Sebastián Galván, a
spokesman for the Mexican Consulate in Tucson, said the office was
gathering information but did not have any details yet.
This incident was not the first one in which the Mexican military has veered across the international boundary.
In January, U.S. border
agents confronted two heavily armed Mexican soldiers who crossed 50
yards inside Arizona, the Los Angeles Times reported. A standoff ensued,
but nobody was hurt.
In 2011, more than 30
uniformed Mexican soldiers in military vehicles crossed the Rio Grande
without authorization in an incident that was believed to be
inadvertent.
The FBI is investigating the incident.
Source: http://www.wwltv.com
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