Sixteen U.S. marines have just been arrested over allegations ranging from human to drug smuggling!
Just this morning, the marines were detained at Camp Pendleton in California, just a few weeks after two other Marines were arrested at the border for allegedly smuggling three Mexicans into the States!
That said, none of the U.S. marines taken into custody today were serving at our nation’s border.
What is going on?
Take a look at this breaking news that hit Twitter:
Fox News has more details:
More than a dozen U.S. Marines were arrested early Thursday on a variety of accusations ranging from human smuggling to drug-related offenses, according to officials.
The U.S. Marine Corps said in a news release that 16 Marines were arrested during a Battalion formation at Camp Pendleton in California. All are members of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, between ranks of E-2 and E4 (PFC-Corporal), a spokeswoman told Fox News, adding that none of the Marines officially has been charged.
"Information gained from a previous human smuggling investigation precipitated the arrests," USMC officials said in a statement.
An additional eight Marines were "taken aside" for questioning of their involvement in alleged drug offenses unrelated to the main arrests on Thursday, officials added.
None of the Marines arrested or detained to questioning on Thursday were serving in support of the ongoing Southwest Border Support mission, the Marine Corps said.
CBS News also gave the following information:
Sixteen Marines at California's Camp Pendleton have been arrested following a human smuggling investigation, according to the Marine Corps.
The 16 Marines were arrested Thursday morning on allegations ranging from human smuggling to drug-related offenses, the 1st Marine Division said in a statement. The arrests were carried out by division officials and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service during battalion formation.
The arrests come only weeks after two Marines at the base were arrested near the border by a Border Patrol agent. The two Marines were accused of smuggling three Mexicans into the United States. The base is located north of San Diego about 55 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. The Marine Corps said information gained from those arrests led to Thursday's arrests.
Eight additional Marines were reportedly questioned about unrelated drug offenses.
The two Marines arrested previously, Byron Darnell Law II and David Javier Salazar-Quintero, face federal charges of transporting unauthorized immigrants for financial gain, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune.
In addition, The Sacramento Bee said:
More than a dozen Marines allegedly tied to human smuggling were arrested at Camp Pendleton in an early morning sweep Thursday, officials announced. Others were rounded up for questioning on drug offenses.
Naval criminal investigators and officials from the Marine Corps’ 1st Marine Division swooped in early Thursday, netting 16 people during the morning’s battalion formation, officials said in a statement. The Marines were arrested on the unit’s parade deck, a division spokesman told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
“It was a public display for the entire unit to see,” 1st Lt. Cameron Edinburgh, a 1st Marine Division spokesman, told the Union-Tribune.
The arrests at the installation in northern San Diego County were tied to a “previous human smuggling investigation,” according to the statement.
The arrested Marines were not named, but ranged in rank from private first class to corporal. All were attached to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Edinburgh told The Sacramento Bee.
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