Armed Mexicans Make 5 Incursions into U.S.

Armed Mexican government personnel made five unauthorized incursions into the U.S. in the last three months of 2005, according to confidential Department of Homeland Security records.

The incursions involved police officers or soldiers in military vehicles and were among 231 such incidents recorded by the U.S. Border Patrol in the past 10 years, the Los Angeles Times reports.

"It's clear you're dealing with a large number of incursions by bona-fide Mexican military units, based on the tactics and the equipment being used," said T.J. Bonner, a Border Patrol veteran and president of the National Border Patrol Council, the agents' union.

Bonner told the Washington Times that it was "common knowledge" along the border that some Mexican military units, federal and state police and former Mexican soldiers are paid by smugglers to protect shipments of cocaine and other drugs into the U.S. Read on.