US says Mexican chopper crosses border, shoots twice

LOS ANGELES: A Mexican military helicopter ventured around 100 yards (meters) into the United States and fired two shots, the US border security agency said Friday in a claim quickly denied by Mexico.

The incident took place Thursday at 5:45 am (1245 GMT) when "a Mexican law enforcement helicopter crossed... north into Arizona," said a statement from US Customs and Border Protection.

"Two shots were fired from the helicopter, but no injuries or damage to US property were reported."

The agency said the incident, which occurred some eight miles (13 kilometers) southwest of the village of San Miguel, on the Tohono O´odham Indian Nation, "is currently under investigation."

The Mexican helicopter was on "a law enforcement operation near the border," it added.

Local media reported the helicopter was part of a counternarcotics mission.

But criminal investigator Tomas Zeron de Lucio of Mexico´s attorney general´s office denied the Mexican helicopter had crossed the border, and said it was suspected drug runners who had shot at the aircraft.

"The operation was on the border... I do not think we crossed the border, because we brought our navigation systems," he told reporters.

Earlier this year, a Mexican helicopter crossed the border near Sasabe, also in Arizona. (AFP)