Pendleton Marines Tackle Iraq Smuggling

Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon news conference Thursday that the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, with about 2,200 Marines aboard the amphibious assault ship Peleliu, went ashore in southern Iraq to assist a campaign to halt the smuggling of oil and fuel.

Their home station is Camp Pendleton.

The anti-smuggling effort, called Operation Sweeney, has resulted in the arrest of about 75 people and the seizure of 20 full barges, 15 empty barges, eight oil boats, 36 petroleum tankers, nine pickup trucks containing fuel and 10 fuel pumps, Myers said. Few other details were available.