Eric Schmitt

About 7:30 a.m., at the regular morning formation of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, the 16 Marines were summoned to the front of the 800-member ranks at Camp Pendleton and placed under arrest by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, according to Lt. Cameron Edinburgh, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Division at the base.

The Marines are suspected of smuggling immigrants into the United States, but Edinburgh said he did not have any information on the scope, duration or other details of the alleged operations.

The service members who were detained were all junior enlisted Marines — privates first class, lance corporals and corporals, the lieutenant said.

Additionally, eight more Marines were pulled aside for questioning about their involvement in alleged drug offenses unrelated to the arrests Thursday, Edinburgh said.

A statement from the 1st Marine Division said none of the Marines who were arrested or detained for questioning were serving in support of support missions along the southwestern border. Camp Pendleton, one of the largest military bases in the United States, is about 70 miles north of the border with Mexico.

Thursday’s actions stemmed largely from the arrest of two other Marines by Border Patrol agents in the last three weeks, Edinburgh said. Information from that human smuggling investigation led to the charges against the Marines on Thursday, he said.

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/us/politics/marines-human-smuggling.html" id="138700b8-85bd-3559-af14-77ae77d4755c">The New York Times</a>.

WASHINGTON — Sixteen Marines were arrested Thursday at a military base in Southern California and charged with an array of offenses, including human smuggling and drug violations, the Marine Corps said in a statement.

16 Marines in California Are Charged With Human Smuggling

The soldier, Staff Sgt. Ladonies P. Strong, faces a preliminary hearing in mid-October to determine whether her case will be referred to a court-martial trial, according to Lt. Col. Patrick Husted, a spokesman for the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia, the sergeant’s parent command.

The cadet who was killed, Christopher J. Morgan, died at the scene of the accident. Two trainers and 19 other cadets were injured.

Morgan, 22, who was expected to graduate next year, was a member of the academy’s wrestling team and was recruited after a standout wrestling career at his high school in West Orange, New Jersey, his hometown.

The truck, known as a light medium tactical vehicle, was transporting the cadets on June 6 to a training area about 8 miles from West Point’s main campus in upstate New York when it overturned at 6:45 a.m., a West Point spokesman, Lt. Col. Christopher Ophardt, said at the time.

The 5-ton truck driven by Strong overturned near Camp Natural Bridge, a summer training site of mountainous terrain. The cadets were in the middle of the annual summer program for rising seniors, which generally includes training in military field exercises.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation, Husted said in an email Tuesday.

The accident was one of several fatal rollovers during military training exercises in recent months, prompting lawmakers in Washington to demand that the Pentagon investigate the causes.

On May 16, Army Staff Sgt. Jacob Hess, 34, died from injuries after a Humvee rolled over at a military training center in Louisiana.

A week earlier, First Lt. Hugh C. McDowell, 24, a Marine platoon commander, was killed when a light-armored vehicle rolled over during a training exercise at Camp Pendleton in California.

It was the second deadly rollover at Camp Pendleton in a month. In April, Staff Sgt. Joshua Braica, 29, also died after a vehicle rolled over there.

This article originally appeared in

Army Soldier Charged in Traffic Accident Death of West Point Cadet

WASHINGTON — The soldier at the wheel of a truck that overturned in June, killing a West Point cadet and injuring 21 others on the way to a training exercise, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide, reckless driving and dereliction of duty, the Army said Tuesday.

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Eric Schmitt

Articles written by the author

16 Marines in California Are Charged With Human Smuggling

Army Soldier Charged in Traffic Accident Death of West Point Cadet