Marines, Sailors Nabbed In Drug Bust

July 3, 2002

CBS) Investigators who caught more than 80 Marines and sailors at Camp Lejeune using and selling Ecstasy and other narcotics said Wednesday it's naive to think the military is immune from societal problems such as drug abuse.

The troops, along with 99 civilians, were arrested in a two-year undercover probe that also resulted in the seizure of more than $1.4 million worth of drugs — primarily Ecstasy, but also cocaine, LSD, methamphetamine and the "date rape" drug GHB.

The probe, code-named Operation Xterminator — as in Ecstacy, the designer drug of choice in certain nightclubs — was conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service office at Camp Lejeune, along with state and local authorities.

The investigation began in February 2000 after Camp Lejeune officials were alerted that a large number of service members were frequenting clubs about 40 miles south of the camp in Wilmington, where designer drugs were prevalent, according to a statement released by Camp Lejeune.

As CBS News Correspondent Mark Strassmann reports, this drug-sting hits home here particularly because last October, right in the middle of Operation Xterminator, twenty-four hundred Marines from Lejeune became the first sizeable unit deployed to Afghanistan.

“The use of drugs is a threat to military readiness, mission performance and safety,” said base spokesman Maj. Steve Cox.

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