Mexican Military Helicopter Enters Texas Airspace For Second Time

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Mexican Military Helicopter Enters Texas Airspace For Second Time
Zapata County, TX -- Authorities have released photos from a second Mexican military helicopter incursion into Zapata County.
The incursion was reported over the Four Seasons Mobile Home & RV Park and the Beacon Resort west of Zapata around 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez said that the helicopter hovered in the area for about five to 10 minutes.
Several witnesses, including a federal law enforcement official, captured pictures and video of the Mexican military helicopter.
Sheriff Gonzalez said several people were terrified and frightened by the helicopter's presence.
Gonzalez said the helicopter clearly had the word "Marina" written on it, an indication the helicopter belonged to the Mexican Navy.
The Mexican Navy could not immediately be reached for comment but it has increased its presence along the border to fight drug traffickers.
Sheriff Gonzalez said the helicopter flew over the two RV parks and was seen hovering over the home belonging to the owners of a local oil & gas exploration company.
Gonzalez said he spoke with the homeowner but there was no apparent reason why the helicopter would have been there.
Sheriff Gonzalez said he's frustrated that state and federal officials have not done anything about the situation since the last helicopter incursion last month.
The sheriff said he's worried local officials aren't being notified about joint operations with the Mexican military.
Gonzalez said another possibility is that that Mexican military officials are being used to drop off drugs or illegal immigrants.
A Mexican military helicopter was spotted in a rural community near Falcon Dam about three weeks ago.
U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar said in a previous statement the federal government is aware of the issue.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued a stern statement against the first helicopter's incursion into Texas air space and released a statement about the second incursion:
"The governor's office was made aware of the helicopter incursion late yesterday, and the Texas Department of Public Safety is currently investigating this incident."
CBS
http://www.digtriad.com/news/nationa...9879&catid=175
2nd Mexican helicopter sighted in U.S. airspace
Pentagon looks into violation by military aircraft
BROWNSVILLE — The U.S. Department of Defense said it was investigating the second sighting within three weeks of a Mexican military helicopter flying in U.S. airspace over rural Zapata County.
“The incident did occur and it's still under investigation,” department spokeswoman Maj. Tanya Bradsher said, confirming that the copter, believed to belong to the Mexican navy, was seen Sunday.
Rick Pauza, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman, earlier in March confirmed a Mexican military helicopter hovered as long as 20 minutes on March 9 over a residential area near Falcon Lake, a reservoir on the Rio Grande.
He said CBP officials who lived in the neighborhood were among those who saw it.
Pauza said the helicopter crossed back without incident and that once the sighting was reported up the chain of the command “that was the extent of it.”
On Thursday, he said he was not aware that Sunday's reported sighting had been confirmed.
“In general, in situations where there is an actual incursion those situations are reviewed by both the United States and Mexico. They are taken seriously,” Pauza said.
Agents sent to the scene
Jason Darling, a U.S. Border Patrol spokesman in Laredo, said Border Patrol agents responded to the scene of “a report originating from the community” within a half-hour of receiving it Sunday but did not see the helicopter themselves.
He said the copter was reported near U.S. 83 between Zapata and Laredo.
Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez said Sunday's sighting was the second one confirmed, but several others were reported to him during the past two weeks that he couldn't be sure enough about to forward to the federal government.
Gonzalez said the unconfirmed incursions occurred on March 20 and on Monday and Tuesday and were reported to him by a deputy, a local news reporter, and a federal officer who the sheriff said has since been muzzled by higher-ups.
“I don't want to get him involved because it sounds like they're going to fire him for saying the truth,” Gonzalez said of the officer.
Dismissed, at first
But Gonzalez said he didn't pass along those reports to federal officials because he wasn't sure about them.
He said federal officials initially rebuffed his initial reports of the March 9 and Sunday sightings, which he made to the Joint Operations Intelligence Center because he had photos from witnesses and a pretty good idea that they were Mexican military operations.
When Gonzalez told the officials he had photos, however, they blamed their lack of knowledge of it on faulty radar, he said.
Then other federal officials confirmed the incidents to reporters.
“It's becoming more common now every day,” he said. “My problem is we find these things out through our media instead of our government. It goes to show how incompetent I guess our government is.”
lbrezosky@express-news.net
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/6939900.html

Mexican helicopter may not have been captured on radar
The controversy continues regarding Mexican military helicopters crossing into deep south Texas.
Area residents and local law enforcement officials have documented at least two Mexican Navy helicopter incursions military incursions in Starr and Zapata Counties.
Action 4 News filed an open records request for radar images for the first helicopter incursion.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told Action 4 News that there was no match to the incursion in any of its radar systems.
An agency spokesman said the helicopter was flying in a rural area and may have been flying too low for the FAA's radar.
Federal law enforcement keep separate radar systems to monitor drug trafficking and other activity.
Action 4 News is still waiting to hear back from those agencies to see if their radar systems were able to detect either incursion.
In the meantime, Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez said he's been told the incursions were not captured on any radar system.
Gonzalez told Action 4 News that he's very concerned that the helicopter incursions were not detected or if they were, that local law enforcement officials weren't notified.
The Zapata County sheriff said foreign aircraft should not be able to be to fly in American airspace without being detected.
“What does it tell you about the defense of the country,” Gonzalez said. “Anybody can just fly into the United States.”
Both federal and state officials have told Action 4 News in previous interviews that are aware of the incursions.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry recently issued a stern statement following the Starr County incursion.
After the Zapata County incusion, Perry stated the incident is being investigated by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Action 4 News put in a request for information with the Mexican Navy headquarters in Mexico City but has not received a reply.
http://www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=438873