Public Safety

Border Patrol Detains 13 Marine Impersonators

By Amy Isackson / Border Reporter

Published March 22, 2011 at 3:17 PM PDT

This story was published more than 13 years ago.

Border Patrol Detains 13 Marine Impersonators

The Border Patrol in San Diego detained two U.S. citizens and 13 undocumented immigrants all wearing U.S. Marine uniforms and riding in a white van with altered U.S.-government license plates.

The Border Patrol in San Diego detained 13 undocumented immigrants all wearing U.S. Marine uniforms and riding in a white van with altered U.S.-government license plates.

Officials won't say why the news hasn't come out before now; agents detained the fake Marines on March 14.

On Tuesday, Border Patrol spokesman Michael Jimenez said he could not answer questions, and only read a statement

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He said the van pulled up to the Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate-8 in Pine Valley, east of San Diego. It aroused agents' suspicion, though Jimenez wouldn't say why.

Agents arrested the two U.S. citizens and 13 undocumented immigrants from Mexico riding in the van, he said.

Jimenez said everyone's camouflaged uniforms had the same last name on them: Lopez. He said disguising vehicles is nothing new. "Utility vehicles, U-Hauls, moving vehicles, in which they'll have people hidden in furniture sometimes when they come up to out checkpoints," said Jimenez.

Jimenez says the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating.

Tags

Public Safety Drug War Tijuana Mexico Politics Law Enforcement

Amy Isackson

Amy Isackson was the border reporter at KPBS from 2004 to 2011. She covered breaking news and feature stories on California-Mexico border issues and immigration, for local and national broadcast. Amy got her start in public radio by pitching a series of stories about rural New Zealand - horse dentistry and sheep sheering - to Radio New Zealand's "Country Life" program. She then worked with Peabody Award-winning radio producers Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson, to help create the Sonic Memorial, a series of stories on the World Trade Center before, during and after 9/11. Amy's work has been recognized with awards from the Associated Press Television-Radio Association of California and Nevada, the California Chicano News Media Association, and the San Diego Press Club. She won the Sol Price Prize for Responsible Journalism in 2009 from the Society of Professional Journalists for her story about high school students smuggling people and drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Prior to venturing into the wonderful world of public radio, Amy worked for Yahoo! Inc. for nearly five years as an editorial surfer, associate producer and broadcast communications manager. She majored in Latin American History at Williams College. She grew up in San Diego and made frequent trips south of the border.

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