DOPE-SMUGGLING SERVICEMEN ADD WRINKLE TO DRUG WAR

The American military has encountered an unex-pected
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, officials said. And
investigators said five of the cases involved Marines suspected of
driving narcotics through Camp Pendleton north of San Diego,
apparently to help traffickers avoid the Border Patrol check-point on
nearby Interstate 5. Officials refused to provide names of the
suspects or other de-tails about the smuggling cases, including how
many were prosecuted or convicted. The number of service members
implicated in smuggling is relatively 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 they are surprised and dismayed
that servicemen were involved in smug-gling at a time that the
military has been used to help stem the flow of drugs across the
border. A senior federal law enforcement official who spoke on
condition of anonymity said they don't consider military drug
smugglers a big problem. "But it's one that interests us because you
don't expect military personnel to be involved in drug smuggling," the
official said. 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.

Clean-cut looks help 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. In the last two years, U.S. Customs
Service agents have investi-gated 10 to 15 cases of active-duty
military men and reservists involved in narcotics trafficking,
according to a federal official familiar with the probes.
Investigations by U.S. Customs and Drug Enforcement Administration
agents have resulted in the indictment of at least two Marines here
during the past year, and one National Guard soldier is a firgitive,
records show. Smuggling cases targeting dozens of military personnel
have arisen while U.S. Army, California Na-tional Guard and Marine
units were conducting drug interdiction patrols along the border.
Earlier this year, a customs intelligence memo suggested that
traffickers still were using Camp Pendleton, a 125,000 acre
installation about 60 miles from Tijuana. The Feb. 25 memo obtained
by the Times said an informant told investigators that the
Arellano-Felix cartel transports small loads of marijuana through the
base to avoid a Border Patrol checkpoint on 15. Naval Criiminal
Investigative Service Special Agent Wayne Clookie said two civilians
were arrested on the base in November 1997 for transporting 52 pounds
of marijuana. They attempted to cross the base to avoid the 15
checkpoint," Clookie said.

Marine convicted One of the first reported smuggling cases involving
an active-duty Marine occurred in 1995. The Times reported that Cpl.
Yiilhuard "Jerry" Pacheco belonged to a Mexican drug ring based in
Yorba Linda that was dismantled by the DEA. When he was arrested,
Pacheco was a staff member of the commanding general at Camp Pendleton.

Pacheco's ring had direct ties to the Cali cartel in Colombia, and
records show the ring shipped up to 14 tons of cocaine between 1993
and 1994 from Southern Cali-fornia to other U.S. cities.

An affidavit filed by a DEA agent said Pacheco rented dwellings for
storing cocaine and transported the drug. However, federal
prosecutors said there is no evi-dence that Pacheco shipped cocaine
through Camp Pendleton. Pacheco was convicted on smuggling charges and
is serving a seven-year prison sentence.

He did not respond to an interview request.

Checked-by: derek rea