Sixteen U.S. Marines have been arrested on human smuggling and drug-related offenses at a base in Southern California, military officials said.

The Marines were taken into custody at Camp Pendleton on Thursday morning during battalion formation. Eight other Marines were taken aside for questioning about their possible involvement in the drug offenses as well, the Marine Corps said in a statement. Officials did not give further details about the allegations.

The arrests were “a public display for the entire unit to see,” 1st Lt. Cameron Edinburgh, a division spokesman, told The Los Angeles Times.

More than a dozen Marines (not pictured) were arrested at Camp Pendleton on Thursday during what has been described as "a public display for the entire unit to see."

The arrests are related to information officials say they gained from a previous human smuggling investigation, the Marine Corps said.

Though officials did not specify which investigation, earlier this month two other Camp Pendleton Marines were charged with transporting unauthorized immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Those two Marines, Byron Darnell Law II and David Javier Salazar-Quintero, are accused of carrying out the trips for financial gain, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

“Any Marines found to be in connection with these alleged activities will be questioned and handled accordingly with respect to due process,” the Marine Corps said. </s> 16 Marines at California's Camp Pendleton arrested following human smuggling investigation, Marine Corps says. </s> Naval law enforcement investigators arrested 16 U.S. Marines in connection to human smuggling and drug-related charges. The arrests follow allegations of human smuggling made against two other Marines earlier this month.

Officials of the 1st Marine Division and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) arrested 16 Marines assigned to Camp Pendleton, California, Thursday morning. The 16 are facing charges related to human smuggling and other drug-related offenses, according to a statement from officials at Camp Pendleton.

The new arrests follow the arrests of two other Camp Pendleton Marines earlier this month. U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested the two Marines, Byron Darnell Law, II and David Javier Salazar-Quintero, on July 3 after they observed suspicious behavior near the border, Breitbart News reported. NCIS investigators followed up on information received during the first two arrests, leading to Thursday’s arrest of 16 Marines.

Law and Salazar-Quintero allegedly received money from a human smuggling organization to pick up migrants near the border and move them inland past Border Patrol checkpoints. The Mexican nationals being smuggled during the arrest told the Border Patrol agent they agreed to pay $8,000 for transit into the U.S., according to a criminal complaint. They listed their destinations as New Jersey and Los Angeles. All three identified Law as the driver of the smuggling vehicle, the complaint concludes.

Camp Pendleton officials also announced on Thursday that eight additional Marines are being taken aside to be questioned about their involvement in drug offenses that are not related to the charges being faced by the other 16 Marines.

Officials reported that none of the Marines who are arrested or being investigated are connected to the Department of Defense efforts to support the Southwest Border Support mission. </s> SAN DIEGO (AP) — Military officials have arrested 16 Marines following an investigation into human smuggling.

The Marine Corps said the arrests at Camp Pendleton, California, were carried out during a battalion formation Thursday morning at the base, north of San Diego. It is about 55 miles (90 kilometers) from the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Marine Corps said in a news release that information gained after two Marines were arrested on human smuggling charges earlier this summer led to the arrests.

Officials say the Marines are charged with various illegal activities ranging from human smuggling to drug-related offenses.

Another eight are being questioned about their alleged involvement in drug offenses as part of a separate investigation.

The military says none of the Marines were involved in helping to enforce border security. </s> More than a dozen U.S. Marines were arrested early Thursday on a variety of charges 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.

“Information gained from a previous human smuggling investigation precipitated the arrests,” USMC officials said in a statement.

CALIFORNIA COUPLE HURT IN ‘VERY BRUTAL’ ATTACK BY GROUP OF TEENAGERS OUTSIDE THEIR HOME

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. – READ MORE </s> SAN DIEGO — A human smuggling investigation by the military led to the arrest of 16 Marines Thursday while carrying out a battalion formation at California's Camp Pendleton, a base about an hour's drive from the U.S.-Mexico border.

None of the Marines were involved in helping to enforce border security, the Marine Corps said in a news release. Officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The arrests come only weeks after two Marines were arrested near the border by a Border Patrol agent. The two Marines were accused of smuggling three Mexicans into the United States.

The Marine Corps said information gained from those arrests led to Thursday's arrests.

Officials say the Marines are charged with various crimes ranging from human smuggling to drug-related offenses.

Another eight are being questioned about their alleged involvement in drug offenses as part of a separate investigation.

Camp Pendleton, the Marine Corps' largest base on the West Coast, is about 55 miles (90 kilometers) from the U.S.-Mexico border.

Marines this year were brought in to help support the Department of Homeland Security in reinforcing the border by installing razor wire on top of existing barriers. Military troops are barred from making arrests of immigrants. </s> Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

Sixteen U.S. Marines were arrested Thursday on human smuggling and drug allegations at a base in Southern California, military officials said.

The Marines were arrested at Camp Pendleton based on information gained from a previous human smuggling investigation, the Marine Corps said in a statement Thursday. At least eight other Marines have also been questioned about their involvement in alleged drug offenses.

None of the arrested or detained Marines were a part of the Southwest Border Support mission, according to the military's statement.

Two Marines had been taken into custody July 3 for allegedly helping to smuggle undocumented immigrants across the southern border into San Diego County. The men allegedly received the migrants at pickup point about 20 miles east of a U.S. port of entry at Tecate and seven miles north of the border, officials said earlier this month.

The drug charges are unrelated to moving drugs across the southern border. During the Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation into the smuggling, investigators found a number of Marines involved with illegal drugs.

Meanwhile, the arrests come hours after United States Special Operations Command separately announced that a Navy SEAL platoon from San Diego would be sent home early from a mission in Iraq "due to a perceived deterioration of good order and discipline." A U.S. defense official told NBC News that the allegations against the Navy SEALs were related to drinking.

Tamara Lawrence, public affairs officer for Naval Special Warfare Command, said in a statement that "the loss of confidence outweighed potential operational risk."

"Leaders at all levels must lead in a way that sustains and sharpens that foundation," Lawrence said. "Discipline is a competitive advantage and enforcing those standards is critical to our success on the battlefield."

The U.S. Marine Corps could not immediately be reached for further information. </s> LOS ANGELES — Sixteen U.S. Marines were arrested on Thursday at their base in Southern California on suspicion of drug-related offenses and the smuggling of undocumented migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. military officials said.

The arrests at Camp Pendleton stemmed from a separate investigation of two other Marines arrested earlier this month on human trafficking charges filed by federal prosecutors in San Diego, a base spokesman said.

Those two Marines, Lance Corporals Byron Darnell Law II and David Javier Salazar-Quintero, were also stationed at Camp Pendleton, about 55 miles (88 km) north of San Diego, according to the spokesman, Marine First Lieutenant Cameron Edinburgh.

“Information gained from the previous investigation gave way to this string of arrests,” Edinburgh told Reuters.

The Marine Corps said that in addition to the Marines arrested on Thursday, eight others were detained for questioning on unrelated alleged drug offenses.

The 16 taken into custody were all part of the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States.
• U.S. Marines killed in California crash include new dad, Iraq vet
• U.S. Navy SEAL demoted for posing with dead prisoner but spared jail

None one of those arrested or detained on Thursday was serving in support of the military’s mission along the border with Mexico, the Marine Corps said.

Unlike Salazar and Law, the Marines faced prosecution under the military justice system but no formal charges have been brought against them as yet, Edinburgh said.

The precise nature of the alleged wrongdoing was not disclosed, but Edinburgh said the troops were suspected of involvement in the smuggling of undocumented immigrants into the United States from Mexico and various unspecified drug-related offenses.

The two Marines arrested July 3 on charges of transporting aliens for financial gain were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents several miles north of the border along a highway in San Diego County.

According to court documents filed in that case, Salazar and Law picked up three undocumented Mexican immigrants by car near the border, guided to a pre-arranged location via cellphone instructions. The three migrants were found riding in the back seat of the Marines’ car, and they told investigators they had agreed to pay $8,000 to be smuggled into the United States.

Thursday’s arrests came a day after the military said a Navy SEAL team was sent back from Iraq because of discipline issues. An official said it was because, in part, they had been drinking alcohol, something that is prohibited. </s> 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.

They were reportedly pulled over by a Border Patrol agent July 3, driving a car near the border in Jacumba Hot Springs with three undocumented immigrants riding in the back seat. Citing a federal criminal complaint, Law allegedly said Salazar-Quintero had called him the previous night "and asked him if he was willing make $1,000 picking up an illegal alien," the paper reports. Salazar-Quintero allegedly said it was Law who introduced him to a recruiter who dispatched them to pick up people near the border, according to the paper.

As CBS News correspondent Jamie Yuccas reports, the undocumented immigrants said they had agreed to pay the Marines $8,000 to get them onto U.S. soil.

Yuccas reported that all the Marines placed under arrest on Thursday were being held in the brig at Camp Pendelton. They are all members of the oldest active-duty Marine division, headquartered at the military base just 60 miles north of the Mexican border. None of them were among the 6,600 active duty and National Guard troops who have been assigned to bolster Border Patrol forces along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"1st Marine Division is committed to justice and the rule of law, and we will continue to fully cooperate with NCIS on this matter," the Marine Corps statement said. "Any Marines found to be in connection with these alleged activities will be questioned and handled accordingly with respect to due process."

Marines this year were brought in to help support the Department of Homeland Security in reinforcing the border by installing razor wire on top of existing barriers. Military troops are barred from making arrests of immigrants.
Sixteen American Marines are arrested at Camp Pendleton, California, on suspicion of aiding human smuggling and drug charges.