SIX MARINES AT CAMP PENDLETON ARRESTED IN INVESTIGATION OF DRUG USE

One Of Them, A Helicopter Mechanic, Is Described As Sometimes Showing Up
For Work Stoned On Marijuana.

CAMP PENDLETON Six Marines were arrested and at least seven others were
under investigation for alleged marijuana and steroids use, Camp Pendleton
officials said Thursday.

Five of the Marines arrested were helicopter mechanics; the other worked at
Camp Pendleton's substance abuse control center and allegedly helped
Marines alter the results of their drug tests, said 1st Lt. Eric Dent, a
Camp Pendleton spokesman.

Dent would not release the names of the Marines or the duties of those
under investigation.

The Marines arrested appeared in military court Wednesday for the civilian
equivalent of a bail hearing. Lt. Bill Bartolomea, an attorney for the
Marines' helicopter squadron, told military magistrate Maj. Etoy Brown that
one of the mechanics, a lance corporal, was a chronic marijuana user who
smoked daily and "sometimes comes to work stoned."

"This is a Marine who is working on aircraft that we are flying," he said.

The mechanics worked on UH-1N Huey and AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters as
part of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169. They were released
from the base brig to return to their command, but would be restricted,
Dent said.

"These Marines are immediately taken off the flight line," he said.
"They're not allowed to work on aircraft until the investigation is complete."

A UH-1N Huey plunged into the Pacific Ocean on Sept. 16 during night
training maneuvers at Camp Pendleton. The four crew members aboard were
killed. Dent said the mechanics who allegedly used drugs were from a
different squadron than the Marines who died, and they would not have
worked on that helicopter. The cause of the accident remains under
investigation.

The six Marines were arrested after one of them went to his sergeant major
and said he wanted to "come clean," Bartolomea said. The Marine said he had
been using marijuana and steroids, and he implicated the others, Bartolomea
said.

The Marine said a corporal traveled across the U.S.-Mexico border to
Tijuana, bought the steroids and gave some to him. Other Marines
corroborated the story.

Investigators found a sock containing steroids stashed in a heater grate of
the corporal's room, Bartolomea said.

Eric Miller, the Marines' squadron sergeant major, told the magistrate he
wanted the corporal jailed.

"It really, truly ticks me off that a noncommissioned officer (the
corporal) is around junior Marines and abusing drugs. Other Marines look up
to him," Miller said.

But defense attorney Maj. Dan Lecce argued that the corporal had a clean
record and didn't pose a flight risk; the magistrate released all the
Marines to their unit. It was not clear when they would be officially
charged or appear again in court.

Checked-by: Matt Elrod