--- description: Two Canadian youngsters distracted by playing Pokemon Go accidentally crossed the international border into the U.S., federal officials said title: Canadian Teens Cause an International Incident Playing Pokémon Go image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Canadian Teens Cause an International Incident Playing _Pokémon Go_  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 24, 2016 3:26 PM CUT  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 24, 2016 3:26 PM CUT Two Canadian youngsters distracted by playing [_Pokémon Go_](http://time.com/4400791/pokemon-go-iphone-android-nintendo/ "undefined") accidentally crossed the border into the U.S. and had to be apprehended in Montana by federal agents, [officials said Friday](https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/2016-07-22-000000/pok%C3%A9mon-go-game-causes-illegal-border-crossing "undefined"). The U.S. Customs and Border Protection said agents found the pair of juveniles illegally entering the U.S. last Thursday by foot. The two were “unaware of their surroundings” while playing the popular game on their cellphones. “Both juveniles were so captivated by their _Pokémon Go_ games that they lost track of where they were,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Michael Rappold said in a statement. The teenagers were brothers from Alberta, [the Toronto _Star_](https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/07/23/pokemon-go-leads-to-international-incident-on-us-border.html "undefined") reports. Officials said they were both later reunited with their mother. _Pokémon Go_ tasks players with walking around their neighborhoods (and, apparently, border areas) to find and catch Pokemon. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4420930/pokemon-go-teens-us-border-canada/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4420930/pokemon-go-teens-us-border-canada/"},"headline":"Canadian Teens Cause an International Incident Playing Pokémon Go","datePublished":"2016-07-24T15:26:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:50:17.851Z","description":"\"They lost track of where they were\"","url":"https://time.com/4420930/pokemon-go-teens-us-border-canada/","keywords":["Tech","Video Games","Canada"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4420930/pokemon-go-teens-us-border-canada/","name":"Canadian Teens Cause an International Incident Playing Pokémon Go"}}]}] ```