{"id":37536,"date":"2019-07-27T23:12:38","date_gmt":"2019-07-27T23:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/07\/27\/smugglers-offer-cash-to-marines-sailors\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:30:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:30:07","slug":"smugglers-offer-cash-to-marines-sailors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/07\/27\/smugglers-offer-cash-to-marines-sailors\/","title":{"rendered":"Smugglers offer cash to Marines, sailors to work for them as drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SAN DIEGO \u2014 On the surface, it seemed like a simple task: Drive to a spot a few miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, pick up people and then drop them off at a McDonald\u2019s or other spot past the city of San Diego, and make anywhere from $500 to $1,000. No need to cross into Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two Marines whose arrests earlier this month for migrant smuggling led to the stunning arrests of fellow Marines at Camp Pendleton<\/a> described in federal court documents such an offer being made to them. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service on Friday said a total of 19 service members have been arrested at the base, including 18 Marines and a Navy corpsman, who all serve in the same unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The military personnel are accused of various crimes from migrant smuggling to drug-related offenses, but officials have not said exactly how they were involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Border Patrol officials say smuggling rings have been luring U.S. troops, police officers, Border Patrol agents and others to work for them as drivers \u2014 a crucial component of moving migrants further into the United States once smugglers get them over the border from Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Border Patrol agents over the years have routinely caught migrants walking onto Camp Pendleton or floating in skiffs off the coast nearby. The camp, dissected by Interstate 5 leading to Los Angeles, sits along a well-traversed route used by smugglers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transporting migrants with American drivers can be more effective in avoiding detection. Customs and Border Protection has broad authority to question and search within 100 miles of the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the driver is in the armed forces, with a military haircut and credentials, that’s a bonus for smugglers because they believe they are more likely to get waved through a checkpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the kind of official corruption that smuggling networks of all kinds, whether it involves people or drugs, really look for,\u201d said David Shirk<\/a>, an associate political science professor at the University of San Diego.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s ideal, he added, for criminal networks to use corrupt officials or military personnel, including “young, gullible and greedy” troops, to help them in their illegal activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\t