Colombia issued a formal protest to neighboring Venezuela on Tuesday after Venezuelan soldiers crossed the border between the two countries and landed in Colombian territory aboard helicopters.

A team of investigators traveled to Vetas de Oriente, in the border department of Tibu, and found that on November 15 and 16 Venezuelan military personnel "entered Colombian territory aboard helicopters," the foreign ministry said.

Colombia "has already protested the events," the statement read, adding that it will be discussed at an upcoming meeting of foreign ministers but giving no further detail.

Colombia and Venezuela share a 2,200 kilometer (1,370 mile) long border rife with armed gangs of guerrillas, smugglers and drug dealers.

This is hardly the first incident: in August Colombia filed a protest after some 20 Venezuelan soldiers crossed into the border department of La Guajira. Caracas denied the incident.

Colombia also complained in March about Venezuelan soldier crossing the border.

Relations between the Latin American neighbors have been tense for years.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is heading a multinational group putting pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to reach a compromise with his country's political opposition.

Colombia and several other countries believe that Venezuela's new constituent assembly -- which replaced the opposition-controlled legislature -- is illegitimate.

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