Mexican Military Helicopter Lands in Texas By Mistake During War Against Cartel

A Mexican military helicopter has landed in Texas by mistake.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says the helicopter landed Saturday afternoon at Laredo International Airport after the pilot mistook the airport for a landing strip in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.

Laredo Port of Entry spokeswoman Mucia Dovalina says customs agents checked out the helicopter's occupants and let them return to Mexico. She declined to say how many people were on board or whether they were armed.

The Houston Chronicle reports that this is just the latest breach that officials have called inadvertent as the Mexican military increases troop deployments in northeastern Mexico.

A convoy of soldiers crossed the international bridge at Donna last month only to processed by customs and sent back across the border.

Mexican military presence in the Mexican states bordering Texas has increased over the last 20 days during an assault on the drug trafficking organization known as the Zetas. Borderland Beat reports that Mexico deployed more than 4,000 soldiers, 722 vehicles and 23 aircraft, during the operation which has resulted in the death of a Zeta gang leader and the arrest of a major gang financier.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.