U of A junior linked to drug, migrant smuggling cases

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A man who identified himself to authorities as a University of Arizona student “in need of money” is being held on separate federal felony charges involving drug trafficking and migrant smuggling incidents one month apart.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael A. Ambri on Friday determined Jasen Alexander Rubio is a flight risk and ordered him detained pending trial on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

On Aug. 29, Homeland Security Investigations agents allegedly saw Rubio arrive in a red Ford Fiesta to meet with an individual in the parking lot of Tucson Mall in Tucson, Arizona. Court records show the agents walked up to Rubio, but he took off running. A foot chase ensued across Wetmore Road and ended with Rubio being apprehended on Limberlost Circle, south of the mall.

The agents searched the red Fiesta and found “numerous cylindrical packages” wrapped in foil and sealed in food bags holding 18.2 kilos of meth, according to a criminal complaint filed Aug. 30 in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

In an interview with investigators, Rubio allegedly admitted he was going to be paid $1,000 for transporting the drugs from an unnamed location to Tucson Mall. Records show he told agents he recently lost a scholarship to the University of Arizona, where he was in his junior year, and needed cash.

The man meeting with the suspect at the mall was not identified nor charged.

Court records show Rubio had been arrested July 26 in Amado, Arizona, while passing through a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in a 2007 Honda Ridgeline.

Border agents reported Rubio was “shaking and sweating” when they asked for his citizenship status and whether the vehicle belonged to him.

The agents sent Rubio to a secondary inspection area where a Border Patrol canine pointed agents to the rear of the vehicle. Records show agents found a Mexican citizen hiding in the empty spare tire storage compartment of the pickup.

The man later identified as Marcos Adonai Santiago Reyes told authorities he crossed into the U.S. illegally, was taken to a stash house and was picked up hours later by the driver of the Ridgeline.

The migrant said he was told to get into the bed of the truck and that he had to tell the driver to be patient because the compartment was hot.

Santiago said the driver gave him a water bottle and told him to be quiet before closing the compartment.

A federal grand jury in Tucson indicted Rubio on Aug. 21 on charges of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and transportation of illegal aliens placing a life in jeopardy.

Records show Rubio was released on his own recognizance on July 29 and was re-arrested on the migrant conspiracy charges on Aug. 30.

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