Most Stung By A Military Drug Probe Already Have Received Prison Sentences

Most of the active-duty military service members from Camp Lejeune arrested
in a two-year drug sweep that ended in June have already been sentenced,
Marine Corps officials said Wednesday.

Of the 84 military personnel arrested in Operation Xterminator, one of the
largest military drug operations ever, all but two have been charged and
sentenced with either possessing or distributing illegal drugs, military
officials said Wednesday during a press conference at Camp Lejeune.

They received sentences from three to 19 years and a dishonorable
discharge, said Camp Lejeune spokesman Maj. Steve Cox. Three arrested were
sailors. The rest were Marines.

The other two cases are pending and so far the military has found no
suspects innocent, said Special Agent Robin Knapp of the Naval Criminal
Investigative Service, which spearheaded the probe that mainly focused on
designer drugs like Ecstasy. It was a joint investigation that included
Jacksonville police, Onslow County sheriff's deputies, the Wilmington-New
Hanover City-County Vice Narcotics Unit and the State Bureau of Investigation.

The sting also led to 99 civilian arrests for both drug use and
distribution. Many of those cases are still pending in court, Cox said. One
civilian arrested was a military dependent, and another was a U.S.
Department of Defense employee.

The investigation drew the attention of the national media this week, but
civilian and military officials put the arrests in perspective. They
compared the 84 military arrests to the roughly 50,000 to 60,000 Marines
stationed at Camp Lejeune and area bases. Marines already undergo random
drug testing and face prosecution for a positive test.

"Drug use is a societal issue," Cox said. "We would be naive to thing it
doesn't happen here, but that is such a small percentage of the Marines we
have here."

Onslow County authorities agreed.

"The Marine Corps is exemplary," Onslow County Sheriff's Capt. John
Matthews said. "When you get 50,000 to 60,000 people, you're going to have
major problems, but not in Jacksonville."

The investigation began in the fall of 1999 when NCIS agents received
information that a growing number of Marines were traveling to Wilmington
to participate in what Knapp called "the rave scene." Raves are parties
sometimes held in clubs or warehouses where Ecstasy is often consumed.

The departments' combined efforts led to arrests and the seizure of an
unspecified number of Ecstasy pills, marijuana, methamphetamines, LSD and
GHB. The total haul was estimated at $1.4 million.

"The majority was used in clubs, the type consistent with the rave scene,"
Knapp said. "Keep in mind, some of these individuals use them outside of
the rave scene and in their homes."

While investigators believe drugs may have been consumed on Camp Lejeune,
they do not believe they were manufactured there, Knapp said.

He also said those arrested did not form a drug ring, but some knew each
other from "going to these same type of places and just hanging out with them."

While officials touted the interaction between the different law
enforcement departments, they were unclear on other details like the
amounts of various drugs taken or the total man-hours required to make the
arrests.

"A lot of time was put into this," Knapp said. "A lot of people sacrificed
a lot of personal time for this investigation."

Knapp would not say how much those arrested for distribution actually
dealt, saying the investigation focused on a sale whether it was "one pill
or 500 pills."

Officials would not name specific Onslow or New Hanover clubs where drug
use was alleged to be prevalent because, they said, the management of those
clubs may not know of the drug use in their establishments.

In June 2001, Camp Lejeune officials banned Marines from a Wilmington
after-hours "bottle club" Dot.Comm, since renamed Club Neo'z. At the time,
Lejeune leaders said drug use was prevalent in the club. No other
Wilmington nightclub is on the list.

Cox said actions like the bans - a status known as "off limits" - do hinder
drug use, but the investigation's findings do not mean more clubs will be
banned. Bans are passed down by a Marine committee that meets monthly.

Calling this a pro-active approach, Knapp said other investigations may be
held in the future even though Operation Xterminator ran its course.

"We felt we made a major impact and it was time to pull up the carpet and
shut down the operation," Knapp said.