Feb. 18 (UPI) — The U.S. border protection agency says six separate incidents during border operations over the last few months involved lasers that has lead to at least one arrest so far amid a rise in such events.
However, no pilot or crew were injured in any of the reported cases and the laser sightings are currently under investigation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials announced Tuesday in a release.
CBP officials say that six episodes over the last four months forced pilots assigned to its Air and Marine Operations detachment to make “evasive maneuvers” after being subjected to targeting via laser pointer devices.
There were 3,500 recorded cases of laser attacks on American pilots in 2012 that was up 300 from 2005, which was the first year the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration kept track of such attacks.
One such attack on Jan. 9 in Jacksonville, Fla., involved a AS-350 helicopter. An unnamed individual now faces felony state charges related to aiming a laser at the aircraft.
“When laser beams are aimed at any piloted aircraft, whether military or commercial, what might seem like a tiny beam on the ground can blind aircrew, potentially causing a midair collision or other incident,” according to the agency.
The most recent event on Feb. 9 took place roughly 13 miles west of McAllen International Airport in Hidalgo County at the very bottom tip of Texas. An AS-350 helicopter was struck three times while on patrol with a laser that reportedly originated along the Mexican riverbank from a non-described vehicle.
Houston, meanwhile, leads all Texas cities in laser strikes with 265 in 2024.
The FAA recorded about 9,500 incidents nationwide in 2022, which jumped to about 13,300 a year later. By October of last year, there were roughly 7,000 recorded laser occurrences.
In 2015, a 27-year-old California man was arrested after he allegedly pointed a laser light into the cockpit of a commercial airliner and then later into a police airplane that was searching for it.
Meanwhile, federal agents point out that while owning a handheld laser is not illegal, pointing it into a cockpit is a federal crime that could involve up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
