U.S. Forgives 8 Who Trespassed

Eight uniformed Mexican soldiers, unaware that they had strayed across the international border, were arrested near this community in eastern San Diego County after they mistook three hunters for American trespassers and confiscated their guns, U.S. Border Patrol officials said Monday.

The eight members of the 60th Infantry Battalion of the Mexican Army thought they were conducting a routine trespassing arrest Sunday before they were surprised by a simple fact of geography--they were trespassers themselves. The intruders had to relinquish their weapons, said Ed Pyeatt, spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego.

“They didn’t realize where they were,” Pyeatt said. “I’m sure they were lost.”

Pyeatt said the soldiers were courteous and professional when they ordered an American man and his two sons, who were squirrel hunting, to give up their weapons.

After failing to persuade the Mexican soldiers that they were in the United States, the hunters reported the incident to the Border Patrol, he said. Border Patrol agents arrested the Mexicans about a quarter of a mile north of the border.

The soldiers were turned over to Mexican army officials and no charges were filed in the United States.