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Smuggling carries heavy consequence
Submitted by: MCB Camp Pendleton
Story by: Computed Name: Cpl. Tom Sloan
Story Identification #: 2006126111122

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.(Jan. 26, 2006) -- Transporting undocumented immigrants across the Mexican border is illegal and can have everlasting consequences.

“They could be looking at anywhere from a year to 10 years (imprisonment), depending on the seriousness of the [offense],� said Capt. Joel T. Leggett, command services officer, office of the Staff Judge Advocate, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

Marine leaders are encouraged to inform their Marines that smuggling illegal immigrants is against the law, and they could face serious criminal charges if caught.

When servicemembers visit Mexico, they could find themselves involved with smuggling, though not meaning to, explained Jewel Seawood, Special Agent-in-Charge, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Marine Corps West Field Office.

The scenerio: a group of Marines leaves Camp Pendleton one Friday night and heads south of the border to Tijuana, Mexico for a night of dancing and fun at one of the clubs.

One of them meets a local female his age, and the two instantly connect. She tells him that she has never been outside of Tijuana and has always wanted to visit the United States.

Feeling compassion and being in a position to help, he takes the woman with him, and he and his friends leave. When they go to cross the border, the Mexican guard at the checkpoint discovers the woman in the vehicle is not an American citizen and does not possess the necessary paperwork authorizing her entrance into the country. Everyone in the vehicle is detained, and they spend the next couple of days in a Mexican jail for attempting to smuggle an illegal immigrant across the border, or they are tried in a Mexican court and receive a lengthy prison term.

This is one of many scenarios that shows what can happen to servicemembers who are caught trying to smuggle illegal immigrants from Mexico into the United States, according to Seawood.

Though their intentions may be good, the action is unwise, dangerous and illegal, she explained.

In other cases, Seawood said Marines are offered money to bring immigrants across the border.

Many servicemembers take leave in Mexico to sight-see, shop and visit family. She explained that servicemembers are cautioned that they could be solicited and offered money to transport an undocumented immigrant across the border into the United States, while visiting Mexico.

Other scenarios could involve drug trafficking, where servicemembers unknowingly transport drugs across the border in a vehicle they’ve been paid to drive.

Leggett explained that either United States Federal authorities or the military could charge servicemembers who are caught smuggling.

“Smuggling is looked upon and treated as a very serious offense,� said the 37-year-old from Birmingham, Ala., adding that the offense can be charged under article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Whether or not a Marine is charged by the military or the federal authorities is a decision that will be resolved by coordination between the servicemember’s command and U.S. federal authorities, he said.