US Marine charged with human smuggling says he was offered $1,000 to help transport an undocumented migrant
One of the two Marine Corps lance corporals charged in a human smuggling case in 2019 claimed he agreed to pick up an undocumented migrant for $1,000.
When he was not paid after the operation, he went back for another smuggling operation the next morning with the promise that he would be paid.
The lance corporal and a Marine colleague were arrested during that second operation.
Two of the undocumented migrants said they were paying $8,000 to be smuggled into New Jersey and Los Angeles.
Cpl. Chelsea Flowers Anderson/U.S. Marine Corps
One of the two Marine Corps lance corporals charged in a human smuggling case claimed he agreed to pick up an undocumented migrant for $1,000, and when he was not paid for his services, went back for another smuggling operation the next day with the promise that he would be paid.
Lance Cpl. Byron Law II from the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton was arrested during that second human smuggling operation at about seven miles from the US-Mexico border on July 3, 2019, according to previous court filings from the US District Court for the Southern District of California.
Law was driving a black vehicle with three undocumented migrants in the back passenger seats. Two of the migrants said they were paying $8,000 to be smuggled into New Jersey and Los Angeles.
Lance Cpl. David Salazar-Quintero, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the vehicle, was also arrested. Salazar-Quintero alleged it was Law who introduced him to human smuggling, after Law made the initial introductions with a "recruiter," according to court documents filed in the case.
Both Marines agreed to answer questions from US Border Patrol agents without an attorney present.
Attorneys for both Marines did not respond to requests for comment by Friday and it was unclear if they intend to fight the charges or enter a guilty plea.
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Law told authorities that Salazar-Quintero, who was fluent in Spanish, had orchestrated the operation, according to court documents. He alleged that the night before his arrest, Salazar-Quintero had called him to see if he would agree to smuggling a migrant for $1,000.
The two Marines set out to the resort community of Jacumba Hot Springs that same night, receiving instructions from a "spotter" with a phone number based in Mexico. Law and Salazar-Quintero smuggled one male migrant and transported him to a McDonald's parking lot in Del Mar, about an hour and a half away.
Law claimed the two were never paid and returned back to their military base, according to court records.
The next morning, Law alleged his colleague "called him for another job, this time guaranteeing they would get paid for today's and last night's event in cash," court filings said. The two Marines were arrested during that second smuggling operation.
Law and Salazar-Quintero faces up to five years in prison for each undocumented migrant they attempted to smuggle.
It was during the initial investigation into Law and Salazar-Quintero when the Naval Criminal Investigative Service suspected other Marines may have been involved in human smuggling operations. During a mass formation of roughly 800 US Marines at Camp Pendleton on July 25, 2019, NCIS agents arrested nearly two dozen service members from the 1st Marine Division in connection with human trafficking, drug distribution, and weapons charges. Thirteen Marines made pre-trial agreements to leave the military instead of taking their case to court.
In November, a judge ruled that the mass arrest was an example of unlawful command influence, which refers to military leaders abusing their position to influence legal proceedings. Service members who were part of that formation in late July testified that officers described the arrested Marines as a "cancer," according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
On January 22, Francisco Saul Rojas-Hernandez was arrested on charges of conspiracy to smuggle people for money. Law and Salazar-Quintero alleged Rojas-Hernandez recruited them for the operations, and his name was also mentioned by other US citizens who were arrested in separate human smuggling cases.
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