its front seat passenger were U.S. citizens who were attempting to smuggle 13 illegal immigrants into the United States. All of the vehicle's occupants wore U.S. Marine uniforms, reportedly emblazoned with the name "Perez."
The van used in the smuggling attempt, according to California's El Centro Border Intelligence Center, was a privately owned vehicle registered out of Yucca Valley, Calif., and was bearing stolen government plates that had been defaced. The center digit -- 0 -- was altered to read as an 8. Further research through multiple government agencies determined that the plate belonged to a one-ton cargo van registered to the U.S. Marine Corps.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/13-illegal-immigrants-arrested-in-california-wearing-u-s-marine-uniforms
One of the more elegant ways of fleeing from East Berlin was the chap making himself a US uniform and just walking past the guards, remembering NOT to return their salute. Could find him during a 6-sec. google search (haven't had breakfast yet), but I did find this one, which is is possibly even better, and much like the post above:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/02/world/berliner-escapes-in-russian-disguise.html
uh oh.... you were the April Fool, you have been had. https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/07/world/escape-was-hoax-berlin-police-say.html
DeleteBut since this story was a hoax, and yesterday was April Folls day, i'm going to run this story to show one cool April Fools day hoax.
the best one I've heard of was the Austin Healey Sprite, that with the windshield removed, drove under the barrier at Checkpoint Charlie https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/07/heinz-meixner-defects-from-east-germany.html
DeleteThose Marines that were driving were from the 5th Marine Regiment at Camp Pendleton. They were called out of a battalion formation and turned over to the FBI or INS or NCIS. Either way, they paid a HEALTHY price for their stupidity.
ReplyDeleteThere were no Marines involved in this. Just uniforms, and the stolen license plate.
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