Mexican Soldiers Accidentally Enter US in New Mexico

A group of more than a dozen armed Mexican soldiers mistakenly crossed into New Mexico while on a mission to find drug traffickers and arms smugglers. Instead, they ended up surrounding two American volunteers who were searching the desert for lost immigrants on Monday.

Abbey Carpenter and James Holman are involved with a humanitarian group focused on locating missing immigrants in the arid regions of southern New Mexico. They encountered 18 bewildered soldiers from the Mexican army, as reported.

The soldiers were unaware they had crossed the border and explained to Carpenter and Holman that they were seeking out traffickers. They inquired about what the volunteers were doing in what they thought was Mexico.

Carpenter quickly took out her phone to show her GPS tracker.

“I never felt threatened. I mean, I was a bit anxious when I realized they were in the U.S., but I was just documenting where they weren’t supposed to be,” she mentioned.

After recognizing their mistake, the soldiers promptly turned back toward the border, Carpenter recalled.

The boundaries in that area of New Mexico are marked by simple wire fences, which can be misleading and are relatively easy to cross, Holman pointed out.

“We were just joking around, they seemed friendly. I even asked if they’d want to take a photo with me. But it was clear we had met them on U.S. soil,” he said.

As a precaution, Carpenter recorded the encounter and even filmed several videos, one showing an armed soldier overseeing a white pickup truck adorned with “Guardia Nacional.” The soldier’s uniform featured the Mexican flag badge on his arm.

During their search, Holman noted they spotted two Mexican vehicles near the border, both covered in bullet holes.

The final stretch through the desert can be perilous for immigrants crossing the border, and the presence of soldiers is not typical. In February, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced plans to deploy 10,000 National Guard troops to the border to tackle illegal migration and drug trafficking.