Illegal immigrants caught dressed as U.S. Marines

By CINDY CARCAMO

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: March 23, 2011

For years, smugglers have tried a variety of creative methods to move their cargo – human and otherwise – without notice.


Some have taken to the seas, smuggling people via fishing boats and even personal watercraft. Earlier this year suspected drug runners tried a medieval-like approach, launching packages of marijuana into the United States with a catapult.

However, the latest approach may be the most novel. Thirteen Mexican nationals wore U.S. Marine uniforms on their way further north from the border, according to news reports.


The men were riding in a fake military van with U.S. government license plates – later determined to have been stolen – before they were apprehended by Border Patrol agents at a checkpoint near Campo on March 14, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Two U.S. citizens in the van were also taken into custody.

After the men in the suspicious van were questioned, agents determined that the vehicle's driverand its front seat passenger were U.S. citizens who were trying to smuggle 13 men illegally into the United States, Fox News reported.

All of the vehicle's occupants wore U.S. Marine uniforms with the name "Lopez" on name tags on their camouflage uniforms.

Read more about the incident in the Los Angeles Times, FoxNews and The Associated Press.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7924 or ccarcamo@ocregister.com or twitter.com/thecindycarcamo