BASE NCIS ENDS DESIGNER DRUG PROBE

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has closed a two-year drug
investigation that spanned two counties and included state and local
authorities.

Special Agent Robin Knapp said Tuesday the probe, called Operation
Xterminator, was part of a multi-jurisdictional task force, successfully
targeted Marines and sailors using or distributing designer drugs like
Ecstasy. It began in February 2000.

Members of the joint task force conducted approximately 105 investigations
over the course of the operation and seized illicit narcotics valued at
$1,424,980, according to figures provided by the Camp Lejeune Public
Affairs Office.

The NCIS office at Camp Lejeune ran the investigation with the
Wilmington-New Hanover City-County Vice Narcotics Unit, the State Bureau of
Investigation, the Onslow County Sheriff's Department and the Jacksonville
Police Department.

"We were quite successful," Knapp said. "The JPD, Onslow County Sheriff's
Department and the SBI were called in on off-shoot cases that involved the
other agencies."

Over the course of the operation, 61 active-duty service members were
identified as possible distributors and 23 as designer drug users,
according to a Camp Lejeune public affairs release. Several were brought to
court-martial. The number of those court-martialed was not released.

Knapp said the investigation started when law enforcement agencies learned
that a number of military service members from Camp Lejeune were at clubs
in New Hanover County where Ecstasy was believed to be prevalent.

"A lot of Marines were going to Wilmington to get into the Rave scene,"
Knapp said.

NCIS Special Agent Tim Rose praised the support of all agencies involved.

"It was definitely a joint effort," he said.