EL PASO, Texas – It wasn’t just Mexican military-style uniforms that suspected drug runners were wearing when they were confronted by Texas lawmen, the Hudspeth County sheriff says.
The men carried Mexican military-issue weapons and drove a military Humvee, said Arvin West, whose officers were involved in the standoff.
“It was military,” he said Friday. “Due to the pending congressional hearings, I can’t comment further.”
West said the determination that the equipment was military came from the federal government, but he would not elaborate.
A U.S. Army spokesman said he could not confirm West’s statement, and the Mexican Foreign Relations Department said it would have no comment.
The Mexican government has denied that any soldiers were involved in the standoff Monday in a remote spot along the Rio Grande in West Texas. The smugglers escaped back across the border without a shot being fired, abandoning more than half a ton of marijuana as they fled.
Mexican officials have said the uniforms and other equipment could have been stolen.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and other officials have said they will seek hearings investigating such border incursions.
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