Mexican law enforcement crossed into Arizona by helicopter and fired two shots at United States border agents, a union spokesman said on Thursday, according to Reuters.
The U.S. Border Patrol said in a statement that a Mexican law enforcement chopper crossed about 100 yards north into the Arizona desert, Reuters reported.
"A Mexican law enforcement helicopter crossed approximately 100 yards north into Arizona nearly eight miles southwest of the Village of San Miguel," U.S. border officials in Tucson said, according to Reuters. "The incident is currently under investigation," they added.
The helicopter then fired two shots on the Tohono O'Odham Indian Nation, which sits on the border, according to Reuters.
Shawn Moran, a spokesman for the border patrol union, said the Mexicans fired at agents but that none were hurt, Reuters reported.
Sebastián Galván, a spokesman for the Mexican Consulate in Tucson, said the office was gathering information but did not have any details yet, according to Reuters.
A spokesman for Mexico's federal prosecutor said the incident had "apparently involved an army helicopter," but declined to elaborate, Reuters reported. Mexican army officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
This incident was not the first one in which the Mexican military has veered across the international boundary, Reuters reported.
In January, U.S. border agents confronted two heavily armed Mexican soldiers who crossed 50 yards inside Arizona, the Los Angeles Times reported, according to Reuters. 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, Reuters reported.
The U.S. southern border has often been the scene of law enforcement operations to counter drug trafficking gangs and illegal immigrant smugglers, according to Reuters.
