Over A DOZEN U.S. Marines Charged With Human Smuggling Of Illegal Aliens

All the Marines arrested were from the major West Coast base in San Diego county Camp Pendleton, situated near the U.S.-Mexico border.

The 13 arrests of Marines for human smuggling are not the only ones made this year.

The grand total of Marines arrested on similar charges now comes to 31, just in 2019!

The Los Angeles Times has more details on the arrests of the Marines and charges they are facing:

Thirteen Camp Pendleton-based Marines detained in a human smuggling probe in July are facing a variety of related charges under military law, the 1st Marine Division said Friday.

All 13 were charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the law governing the conduct of service members. Their charges include failure to obey orders, drunkenness, endangerment, larceny and perjury.

Five Marines were charged with having direct involvement in the human smuggling conspiracy, said Maj. Kendra Motz, a 1st Marine Division spokeswoman.

All but one of the Marines are assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. The other Marine, arrested by the Border Patrol on July 10, is assigned to 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. His arrest had not previously been reported.

The next step in the military system will be preliminary Article 32 hearings, which function similar to civilian grand juries. No dates for those hearings were announced.

The investigation into the human smuggling ring started after two Marines were arrested after picking up at least three unauthorized immigrants near Jacumba Hot Springs on July 3, authorities said.

CBS News also had the following to say:

Thirteen Marines from Camp Pendleton have been charged in connection to a human smuggling operation, the Marine Corps said Friday. They are facing charges ranging from drunkenness and failure to obey orders to larceny and perjury. 

Among the Marines charged are two who were pulled over by Border Patrol agents on July 3 for transporting three undocumented immigrants. Those two Marines, Lance Corporal Byron D. Law and Lance Corporal David J. Salazar-Quintero, were charged with allegedly transporting and conspiring to transport undocumented immigrants. 

Ten other Marines who are also from the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division were detained by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) during battalion formation on July 25 for alleged involvement in human smuggling and drug-related offenses, the Corps said.