Pot Smugglers in Uniform Escape Back to Mexico, Officials Say

Men in Mexican military-style uniforms crossed the Rio Grande into the United States on a marijuana-smuggling foray, leading to an armed confrontation with Texas law officers, authorities said Tuesday. No shots were fired.

The men retreated and escaped back across the border with much of the pot, though they abandoned more than a half-ton of marijuana as they fled and set fire to one of their vehicles, authorities said.

The Mexican government denied its military was involved.

The confrontation took place Monday and involved three Texas sheriff’s deputies, at least two Texas state troopers and at least 10 heavily armed men from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, said Rick Glancy of the Texas Border Sheriffs’ Assn.

Gov. Rick Perry ordered an investigation. “It’s certainly troubling and unacceptable and a real reminder of how an unsecure border threatens all Texans and the rest of the nation,” said Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt.

The Mexican Foreign Relations Department issued a statement saying drug traffickers and other organized criminals have used military-style uniforms and vehicles before. “It is possible that these actions were designed to damage the image of our armed forces,” it said.

Monday’s incident comes after a Jan. 15 story in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in Ontario that said Mexican government officials had crossed into the United States more than 200 times since 1996. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has said reports of Mexican incursions were overblown and most were just mistakes.

Local sheriffs were furious over Monday’s encounter.

“If it’s not the army or police, who are they? You can’t have an army on the other side of the river and not know who they are,” said El Paso Sheriff Leo Samaniego, whose county abuts the area of the incident.

The confrontation Monday took place near Neely’s Crossing, about 50 miles southeast of El Paso, and started when state police tried to stop three sport-utility vehicles on Interstate 10. The vehicles made a quick U-turn and headed south toward the border, a few miles away, Glancy said.

When the SUVs reached the Rio Grande, police saw the occupants of a green, Mexican army-style Humvee apparently waiting for the convoy, Glancy said.

Police stopped and watched as the vehicles began to cross the shallow river into Mexico. Both sides -- the Americans and the smugglers -- had their weapons drawn.

One SUV got stuck in the river, and another blew a tire on the Texas side. Its driver ran into Mexico.

Men in the Humvee tried to tow the stuck vehicle out of the river. When that failed, a group of men in civilian clothes began unloading from the SUV what appeared to be bundles of marijuana. They then torched the SUV, Glancy said.

Deputies found about 1,400 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle that had a flat tire. The vehicle had previously been reported stolen from El Paso.

Homeland Security said in a statement that it was investigating with state, local and Mexican authorities.

“Experience has shown that criminal networks become increasingly emboldened when they feel squeezed by successful law enforcement strategies,” department spokeswoman Kristi Clemens said.