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.