By THE PULSE NEWS MEXICO STAFF

U.S. Border Patrols officers temporarily detained 14 Mexican soldiers on Saturday, Sept. 25, for crossing into the United States over a border bridge in El Paso, Texas, without proper documentation.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement that two Mexican military vehicles crossed the bridge that connects El Paso with Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, in the early hours of Saturday, and were detained briefly before being returned to Mexico.

The report stated that the soldiers, their weapons and equipment “were secured for security and prosecution,” and noted that the soldiers claimed that they “did not realize that they had entered the United States.”

It also said that one of the Mexican soldiers “was given a civil penalty after CBP officers discovered an amount of marijuana for personal use in his possession.”

The soldiers, their equipment and vehicles were returned to Mexico a few hours later after Mexican Army officers came looking for them. 

Mexico’s Defense Secretariat (Sedena) did not immediately respond to media requests for comment.

Involuntary border crossings by Mexican military forces have occurred in the past, but generally in areas where the border is not clearly marked, not at major border bridges.