THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605290448
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 48 lines
Navy investigators have arrested 21 American sailors based in Naples, Italy, on charges that they were involved in smuggling cocaine and heroin into Italy.
Navy officials said the sailors had been recruited by Nigerian drug dealers to carry illicit drugs into Italy from Turkey and other countries. ``Military members were allegedly targeted because of the relative ease with which they are allowed to cross borders,'' the Navy said in a statement.
The first 14 arrests were announced by American naval officials in Italy on May 16, the day of the suicide of Adm. Jeremy Boorda, the chief of naval operations. Navy officials described the arrests as one more in a series of scandals that have tarnished the reputation of the Navy and increased the job pressures on Boorda.
Navy officials said agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service were able to infiltrate the drug ring, which had paid American sailors thousands of dollars each to carry bags of cocaine and heroin across European borders. The Navy said investigators had seized about 10 pounds of drugs and several thousand dollars in raids on the drug operation.
Most of the suspects were junior enlisted sailors, although Navy officials said a lieutenant commander was also among those arrested.
``These arrests target a few individuals whose greed has allegedly gotten in the way of their values,'' Rear Adm. John Ryan, the fleet air Mediterranean commander, said in a statement after the initial arrests. ``I continue to focus on the 99.9 percent of our people who are doing a superb job. But we want to send a message to the other 0.1 percent. If you're found guilty of violating our regulations or core values, you will be held accountable.''
News reports in Italy have suggested that some of the American sailors were also suspected of selling American birth certificates and passports to the Nigerians to assist them in drug smuggling.
Navy officials said there was no evidence to suggest that the sailors were themselves using the drugs, which they suggested was not surprising given that sailors are subject to frequent random drug tests. ``The motivation here was money, not intoxication,'' said a Navy official, speaking on condition that he not be identified.
Within the Navy, the news of the arrests in Italy was overshadowed by the suicide that same day of Boorda, the Navy's highest ranking officer, who shot himself in the chest, shortly before a magazine was to interview him regarding the legitimacy of two Vietnam War combat decorations that he had worn.
KEYWORDS: US NAVY DRUGS ILLEGAL by CNB