13 Illegal Immigrants Arrested in California Wearing U.S. Marine Uniforms

**vector7** · March 22nd, 2011, 23:33

13 Illegal Immigrants Arrested in California Wearing U.S. Marine Uniforms

By Joshua Rhett Miller
Published March 22, 2011
| FoxNews.com

Comments (985)

DHS

Clad in U.S. Marine uniforms, the illegal immigrants were apprehended at the Campo Border Patrol Westbound I-8 checkpoint at 11 p.m. on March 14 near Pine Valley, Calif., according to a March 15 report by California's El Centro Border Intelligence Center.

Border Patrol agents recently arrested 13 illegal immigrants disguised as U.S. Marines and riding in a fake military van, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday.

The illegal immigrants were clad in Marine uniforms when they were apprehended at the Campo Border Patrol Westbound I-8 checkpoint at 11 p.m. on March 14 near Pine Valley, Calif., border officials said. Two U.S. citizens in the van also were arrested.

After the suspicious white van was subjected to secondary inspection, it was determined that the driver of the vehicle and its front seat passenger were U.S. citizens who were attempting to smuggle 13 illegal immigrants into the United States. All of the vehicle's occupants wore U.S. Marine uniforms, reportedly emblazoned with the name "Perez."

"This effort is an example of the lengths smugglers will go to avoid detection, and the skilled and effective police work and vigilance displayed everyday by Customs and Border Protection personnel," the agency said in a written statement.

The van used in the smuggling attempt, according to California's El Centro Border Intelligence Center, was a privately owned vehicle registered out of Yucca Valley, Calif., and was bearing stolen government plates that had been defaced. The center digit -- 0 -- was altered to read as an 8. Further research through multiple government agencies determined that the plate belonged to a one-ton cargo van registered to the U.S. Marine Corps.

The military referred inquiries back to Customs and Border Protection.

The van entered into the United States via Mexicali, Mexico, and proceeded to Calexico, Calif., where the U.S. Marine uniforms were donned, according to Homeland Security Today.

The Campo Border Station was constructed in June 2008 and is located roughly 28 miles east of San Diego Sector Headquarters in rural East San Diego County. It is responsible for securing approximately 13.1 linear miles of the U.S.-Mexico border and 417 square miles of surrounding territory. An estimated 7,000 vehicles pass through its two checkpoints daily, according to its website.

**American Patriot** · March 23rd, 2011, 13:28

what next

**American Patriot** · March 23rd, 2011, 18:33

Originally Posted by michael2

Wouldn't the fact of their being alien nationals in the country illegally in the uniform of that country's military make them subject to the code of military justice, subject to possibly even summary execution following a field court-martial?

I don't know, i'm just asking.

If we were at war with Mexico, probably could be shot as spies.

I cracked up when I heard how they caught them.

The ICE guys that stopped them saw something odd... every one of them men had the same name tag "Perez".

/chuckles

**American Patriot** · March 24th, 2011, 20:31

Former Marine Foils Attempted Smuggling of 13 Illegal Immigrants in Military Uniforms

Published March 24, 2011
| FoxNews.com

An alert plainclothes U.S. Border Patrol agent who previously served in the Marine Corps foiled a brazen attempt by 13 illegal immigrants and two suspected U.S. smugglers to enter the United States by asking the driver a simple question that every Leatherneck knows: When is the Marine Corps' birthday?
On Nov. 10, 1775, a Corps of [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]Marines[/COLOR][/COLOR] was created by a resolution of the Continental Congress, according to the U.S. Marines' [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]website[/COLOR][/COLOR]. Formal recognition of the event, however, did not occur until 1921. Prior to that year, it's unclear whether any celebration was held.
But every Marine is taught to remember that historic date -- and the incorrect answer tipped off Border Patrol agents at the Campo Border Patrol Westbound I-8 checkpoint on March 14 near Pine Valley, Calif.
Another agent later noticed that passenger Jose Guadalupe Ceja Jr., a suspected smuggler, seemingly did not understand English. Ceja and the driver of the white van both wore Marine uniforms bearing nametags reading "Lopez."
The use of Marine disguises appears to be one of the first cases of smugglers and immigrants posing as U.S. [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]military[/COLOR][/COLOR]. Mexican smugglers often don that country's military uniforms during attempts to get their illegal loads past authorities. In a 2006 incident that strained U.S.-Mexico relations, traffickers dressed as Mexican soldiers crossed the Rio Grande and were seen helping suspected drug smugglers elude U.S. law enforcement during a chase.

Clad in U.S. Marine uniforms, the illegal immigrants were apprehended at the Campo Border Patrol Westbound I-8 checkpoint at 11 p.m. on March 14 near Pine Valley, Calif., according to a March 15 report by California's El Centro Border Intelligence Center.

"This effort is an example of the lengths smugglers will go to avoid detection, and the skilled and effective police work and vigilance displayed every day by Customs and Border Protection personnel," U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said in a statement to FoxNews.com on Tuesday.
Former Marine Capt. David Danelo, a senior fellow at Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia who has authored a book about the U.S.-Mexico border, says smugglers had the unfortunate luck of running into well-trained Border Patrol agents with military experience.
"Should we punish these guys by sending them through four years of basic training?" he told the Associated Press. "The troubling reality and the real question here is, has this ever succeeded before? That's an answer we just don't know."
Several unanswered questions do remain, including how the suspects acquired the uniforms and their intentions once in the United States.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service -- the investigative arm of the Navy, which includes the Marine Corps -- has teamed up with the Border Patrol to find out.
"If people are pretending to be Marines for criminal reasons, we'll want to know why," said Ed Buice, spokesman for the Navy's investigative arm, known as NCIS.
Buice declined to discuss details of the investigation.
"I'm sure they were hoping agents would just see military people in a white van with government plates and just wave them through," Border Patrol spokesman Michael Jimenez told the Associated Press.
According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in San Diego, the van with a government plate caught the eye of a Border Patrol agent identified only as S. Smith who was driving an unmarked vehicle down the interstate last week.
The van with the words "U.S. Government, For official use only" on the license plate seemed suspicious. One of the numbers also reflected light differently when Smith's headlights shined on it.
Smith then sped up and passed the van to get a better look: The driver was wearing a military [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]uniform[/COLOR][/COLOR] and he could see others in the back wearing Marine Corps caps.
Smith called his colleagues at the nearest checkpoint and told them to do a close inspection of the van when it arrived. He followed and asked the driver during the inspection where they were headed.
"Joint Service Base," he replied.
Smith was unmoved, especially after noticing that one of the numbers on the license plate of the van had been altered from a 0 to an 8.
Another agent, identified only by his last name, Robinson, also a former Marine, noticed other anomalies: Some of the group was wearing desert camouflage uniforms and others were wearing urban camouflage uniforms.
Robinson then asked Ceja directly if he was a Marine, and he admitted he was not, according to the complaint.
Agents later tracked down Guadalupe Garcia, another smuggling suspect, who was apparently scouting out agents, at a checkpoint outside Jacumba, Calif., according to the complaint. Marine Corps insignias were found under a passenger seat in his car, authorities said.
Arturo Leyva, another suspect, told authorities he had been asked to smuggle drugs by a man he met at a bar in the border town of Calexico but had backed out, according to the complaint. Authorities say he later ran into the man at a bar across the border in Mexicali and agreed to smuggle immigrants.
He was given a cell phone and called on March 14. He was told a [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]taxi[/COLOR][/COLOR] would be taking him from his home in El Centro to Calexico.
The alleged smugglers and immigrants then went to a trailer park, where a man arrived with a military-style duffel bag full of uniforms, the complaint states. The man advised Ceja on how to talk to the Border Patrol, instructing him to say they were coming from Yuma Air Force base.
Marine Capt. Brian Block at the Pentagon said the official attire is the property of service members who buy it when they enter the military and it's up to the individual to keep track of it after they are discharged.
Block said the services strongly encourage military members to maintain control of their uniforms for security reasons, but he acknowledges not everyone heeds the advice.
"You can go into just about any Army-Navy store and pick up old camies if you want to, especially in the San Diego area, where there is a lot of military," he said. "But if you don't have a military ID card, you can't walk onto a base."
Leyva's attorney, Douglas Brown, said his client and the two other U.S. citizens arrested have entered a preliminary plea of not guilty. Ceja's attorney, Martin Molina, declined to comment. Garcia's attorney, Brandon Leblanc, said he could not comment on the case.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/03/24...#ixzz1HYDomOHv