Mexican Cops Crossed into U.S. Searching for Drug Smugglers

ROMA, Texas — Authorities from both the U.S. and Mexico ended up bumping into each other on the American side of the border as they each searched for drug cartel smugglers.

Border Patrol agents told Breitbart Texas the “accidental” incursion took place Thursday near a small island in this border city that lies in the middle of the Rio Grande. However, in order for the incursion to have been “accidental” the Mexican police would have to be unaware they were crossing a river onto the island. It is highly unlikely the armed Mexican police officers were unaware of their entry into the United States.

Breitbart Texas had initially confirmed the incursion with Roma Police which had been called to assist during the initial confusion. The U.S. Border Patrol then provided additional information to Breitbart Texas.

On the day of the incursion, shortly after 8 a.m., agents observed eight men carrying bundles of marijuana on an island upriver from this city.

At around 9:40 a.m., Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers who had arrived to assist Border Patrol agents came across three armed men on the U.S. side of the river. The men identified themselves as Mexican police officers who were carrying out “border enforcement operations” and returned to Mexico.

“RGV Border Patrol contacted the government of Mexico who clarified that the Mexican police officers had become disoriented while searching for narcotics and accidentally crossed into the United States,” a statement provided by U.S. Border Patrol revealed. Mexican authorities did seize five drug bundles on the island where authorities had initially spotted the illegal activity.

As previously reported by Breitbart Texas, Roma is immediately north of the Rio Grande from Miguel Aleman, Tamaulipas, an area of great value to Mexico’s Gulf Cartel. There is no border fence in that area making the shallow waters of the Rio Grande the only physical barrier for drug cartel smugglers and human traffickers who take advantage of the the dense brush and sparse population.

Once the drugs or human cargo are on the U.S. side of the border, smugglers use main highways to get their product to stash houses in more populated areas before making their trips north past the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints about 80 miles north from the border.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.