Marines charged with smuggling immigrants

During regular battalion formation at Camp Pendleton on Thursday, Marine Corps officers summoned 16 Marines in front of the ranks and arrested them. They face charges of smuggling undocumented immigrants across the border and unspecified drug-related offenses, according to a statement released by the Marine Corps. Eight other Marines were detained on suspicion of unrelated alleged drug offenses.

How did they get caught? Earlier this month, U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested two Marines transporting three illegal immigrants, allegedly for money. A subsequent investigation led to Thursday’s arrests. Camp Pendleton is about 50 miles from California’s border with Mexico, but none of the arrestees worked in border security, according to the Marine Corps.

Dig Deeper: This spring, WORLD Magazine’s Sophia Lee got a firsthand look at the challenges of border security during a ride-along with Border Patrol Officer Fabian Carbajal.