Mexican military helicopter full of soldiers lands at an airport in Texas - by MISTAKE | Mail Online
It's the kind of news that would have a President calling his defence staff to the White House Situation Room.
A Mexican military helicopter packed with soldiers has landed on United States soil, uninvited.
But Barack Obama can rest easy - because the unit from Mexico touched down at Laredo International Airport, Texas, by mistake, according to a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The helicopter landed at about 3pm on Saturday - 16 miles from its intended target south of the border, a landing strip in Nuevo Laredo.
The spokeswoman said she could not share details of the incident, such as the number of occupants or whether they were armed.
Following protocol, CBP officers checked out the helicopter’s occupants, then allowed them to return to Mexico in the aircraft.
'The only thing that I can tell you is that they did land here,' the spokeswoman said. 'It was by mistake. They were processed and they were returned to Mexico.'
According to a statement from CBP, the pilot mistook the Texas airport for Nuevo Laredo airport.
This is the latest such incursion against international protocol that officials have called inadvertent, as the Mexican military increases troop deployments in north-eastern Mexico.
In July, a convoy of soldiers rolled across the international bridge at Donna, Texas, and were processed by customs and sent back across.
Laredo residents expressed their doubts about whether the helicopter landing really was a mistake.
'I am a little upset that it happened,' Janice Davis said. 'I think they knew what they were doing. I don't think it was a mistake.
'I think they were here to find out maybe what's going on. It worries me that they're so close and something could happen.'
David Sanchez added: 'I think it worries us all. I think maybe people are trying to see how far they can take things and what they can possibly get away with.'
Mayor Raul Salinas, a former FBI agent, says everything is under control.
'I want to make sure that people understand that we have a safe community,' he said. 'We have the right resources, personnel, boots on the ground. We ask Washington how important our border is.'
The Mexican military announced last week that it had wrapped up an operation called 'Lince Norte,' or Northern Lynx.
The 20-day assault on the Zetas drug trafficking organisation used 4,000 Mexican troops, deployed mostly in states bordering Texas.
The operation resulted in the death of the Zeta who controlled Nuevo Laredo and the arrest of a man the military says is a 'national level' financier for the gang.