Drones spying on Mexico? U.S. won't say

SAN ANTONIO, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. surveillance drones are patrolling the southern border, but officials are not saying whether they are looking into Mexico.

Asked by the San Antonio Express-News if the remotely piloted planes, with cameras feeding real-time video, spy across the border, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, said, "Officially, no. I will leave it at that."

Cuellar, chairman of a House Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counter-terrorism, pushed for the Predator B patrols from Big Bend National Park to the Gulf of Mexico.

"When they are flying at 19,000 feet and have those highly sophisticated cameras, all they have to do is shift it slightly and you can see into Mexico," he said.

Customs and Border Protection images show the drones can see colors of people's clothing from five miles away and four miles up.

The CBP sees the images, but not Border Patrol agents or the Texas Department of Public Safety.

"We have not received any direct requests by the government of Mexico to keep an eye on their territory," said Gina Gray, a CBP spokeswoman.

She wouldn't say whether the planes had flown over Mexico, and the Mexican government declined comment.