Sixteen Marines were arrested during battalion formation at Camp Pendleton Thursday, accused of illegal activities ranging from drug-related offenses to human smuggling, officials said.
Officials with the 1st Marine Division of the U.S. Marine Corps said representatives with Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) were also involved in what they called the “mass arrests.”
The Marines - all E-2 to E-4 in rank - were arrested based on information gained from a previous human smuggling investigation, military officials said.
NBC 7 first reported the news that two Camp Pendleton-based Marines were arrested earlier this month and accused of transporting undocumented immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border near Tecate.
Sixteen Marines were arrested during battalion formation at Camp Pendleton. NBC 7's Danny Freeman has more. (Published Thursday, July 25, 2019)
U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Lance Corporals Byron Law II and David Salazar-Quintero on July 3 in east San Diego County. The agents reportedly saw three undocumented immigrants jump into the Marines’ car on Interstate 8, just north of the border.
According to a federal complaint obtained by NBC 7, the undocumented immigrants told border agents they had agreed to pay the Marines $8,000 to take them north from the border to Los Angeles, eventually intending to head to New Jersey.
A USMC spokeperson said the arrested Marines could be charged in military court or federal court. None of the Marines in question served in support of the Southewest Border Support mission.
An additional eight Marines were taken aside and questioned on alleged drug offenses but officials say that investigation is not related to today's arrests.
More than 42,000 active duty personnel work on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
The base, located on the coast near Oceanside, California, also hosts thousands of Marine reservists for annual training on its firing ranges, Urban Terrain facilities and training areas.
Please refresh this page for updates on this story. Details may change as more information becomes available.
notataco007 on July 25th, 2019 at 21:50 UTC »
$8,000? I know Marines that would've done it for a Bang and a can of dip
JonnyStRex on July 25th, 2019 at 18:48 UTC »
Did you feel it? It's almost as if a thousand unit training schedules, from every branch, suddenly had mandatory briefings all day tomorrow.
Edit: thanks for the silver! Edit2: and gold!
allisondojean on July 25th, 2019 at 18:24 UTC »
MSNBC says 16-18 Marines, E2-E4, currently in custody on human (smuggling) and drug charges.
Edit: Originally MSNBC said "trafficking" so I left the word up with the clarification that it was smuggling, but I don't feel like getting anymore comments about it :)