Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Contact: http://www.sjmercury.com/ Copyright: 1998 Mercury Center Pubdate: 14 Dec 1998 Author: H. G. Reza, Los Angeles Times DRUG LORDS RECRUIT U.S. SERVICEMEN Smuggling: At least 50 Marines and sailors suspected, some for trafficking from Mexico through Camp Pendleton. SAN DIEGO -- The military has encountered an unexpected enemy in its war on drugs: U.S. servicemen smuggling marijuana and cocaine into California for Mexican drug rings. At least 50 Marines and sailors have been investigated for drug running ``in recent years,'' according to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Eight military probes involving 20 Marine and Navy suspects were launched in the past year alone, officials said in response to a Los Angeles Times inquiry. And investigators said five of the cases involved Marines suspected of driving narcotics through Camp Pendleton, apparently to help traffickers avoid the Border Patrol checkpoint on nearby Interstate 5. Officials refused to provide names of the suspects or other details about the smuggling cases, including how many were prosecuted or convicted. The number of service members implicated in smuggling is small compared with the more than 100,000 sailors and Marines stationed in the San Diego area. But the development represents an insidious twist in the corrupting influence of the drug trade, which previously has spawned bribery investigations and convictions of several federal border agents. Records show that some servicemen who were arrested by federal drug agents worked for major Mexican drug rings. Authorities say most, if not all, of these rings have ties to the violent Arellano-Felix cartel of Tijuana, Mexico, that funnels tons of cocaine and marijuana into the United States. Officials were reluctant to discuss the investigations because a number are ongoing. However, some acknowledged privately that they are surprised and dismayed that any servicemen were involved in smuggling at a time when the military has been used to help stem the flow of drugs across the border. ``Overall, we don't consider (military drug smugglers) a (big) problem,'' said a senior federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity. ``But it's one that interests us because you don't expect military personnel to be involved in drug smuggling.'' In one case, an active duty Marine sneaked marijuana shipments into the United States by using a rubber speedboat to elude Coast Guard and Navy radar. Under cover of night, the drugs were delivered to waiting vehicles at San Diego County beaches. Military authorities said some servicemen were recruited at Tijuana nightspots and allegedly were paid to transport drugs across the border in private vehicles. Marines and sailors, they said, evidently were chosen because their clean-cut looks made them less likely to raise suspicion among border inspectors and to be searched. Debbie Hartman, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney here, said her office does not track convictions by occupation and does not know how many servicemen have been convicted of smuggling. Pentagon officials said they do not know how many servicemen have been court-martialed and convicted for drug smuggling -- or how many from each branch are now under investigation. In the last two years, U.S. Customs Service agents have investigated 10 to 15 cases of active-duty military men and reservists involved in narcotics trafficking, according to a federal official familiar with the probes. - --- Checked-by: Mike Gogulski