Two Canadian teens cross the border into the US while playing Pokemon Go

  • The two unidentified teens wandered from Coutts, Alberta to Sweetgrass, Montana
  • Homeland Security determined the teens posed no threat and had just become distracted by their game
  • The teens were returned to their mother in Canada 

By Kiri Blakeley For Dailymail.com

Published: | Updated:

Two Canadian teens were so distracted while playing Pokemon Go that they in inadvertently committed an international crime, reports Homeland Security.

The teens, from Coutts, Alberta, had their noses in their phones while engaged in the location-based Pokemon Go app, and lost track of which country they were in, crossing illegally into the US on Thursday.

They were apprehended near Sweet Grass, Montana and picked up by border patrol agents, according to ABC News.

Two Canadian teens became so absorbed in their Pokemon Go game that they inadvertently left the country

Two Canadian teens became so absorbed in their Pokemon Go game that they inadvertently left the country

Border patrol agents at a station above in Sweet Grass, Montana, picked up the two Pokemon Go hypnotized teens

Border patrol agents at a station above in Sweet Grass, Montana, picked up the two Pokemon Go hypnotized teens

The bumbling players were briefly detained and then reunited with their mother at a patrol station on the Canadian side.

The teens said they were unaware that they had crossed the border. 

'Both juveniles were so captivated by their Pokemon Go games that they lost track of where they were,' Michael Rappold, the agency's public affairs officer, according to AJC.com. 'They crossed the international border inadvertently, but agents were able to reunite them with their mother.'  

Agents did not release the Pokemon-obsessed teens' names or ages.

Distracted players, such as the ones above in London, have been reported to wander into landmines and over cliffs among other near-disasters

Distracted players, such as the ones above in London, have been reported to wander into landmines and over cliffs among other near-disasters

In July, the US National Safety Council released an advisory urging pedestrians to exercise caution while playing the game, and warned drivers not to play it at the wheel.

'No race to 'capture' a cartoon monster is worth a life,' the council warned.

Also this month, two players fell off a 100 foot cliff edge in Encinitas, North San Diego County while playing the game. They both escaped serious injury.

In Bosnia, players were warned to stop wandering into areas littered with active landmines.  

 

Pokemon

Most watched News videos