EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A man who says he didn’t know the truck he drove carried nearly 700 pounds of methamphetamines with a street value of at least $2 million has a federal court date in El Paso this week.
Texas Department of Public Safety officers on June 30 stopped a white 2008 Kenworth utility trailer for an unsafe lane change and inoperable stop lights on the 6500 block of Trowbridge Drive. The driver identified as Eduardo Rubio became nervous when questioned by DPS officers, who requested the assistance of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection drug-sniffing dog, according to the arrest affidavit.
A CBP canine named Rocky inspected the tractor-trailer after Rubio consented to a search and alerted officers to anomalies on the roof of the vehicle. Homeland Security Investigations agents who had been watching the truck since Rubio picked it up at the 400 block of Lee Trevino asked him to follow them to the cargo lot of the Ysleta Port of Entry for an X-ray examination, and Rubio consented, court documents show.
A CBP inspection revealed foil-wrapped bundles within the trailer’s roof beams; the contents tested positive for methamphetamines with a total weight of 316.5 kilograms, or 698 pounds, the documents show.
HSI agents read Rubio his Miranda rights in Spanish, and he agreed to provide a statement without an attorney present, according to the arrest affidavit.
Rubio claimed the trailer belonged to a man named Jose and that he didn’t know the trailer had drugs. The driver told investigators Jose instructed him to drive the truck to Rincon, New Mexico, to pick up a load of onions and deliver them to Olate, Kansas, the documents state.
Rubio further told investigators he suspected “something wasn’t right” because he was taking an empty trailer to New Mexico and “thought Jose was moving drugs,” according to court documents. Rubio said Jose had previously asked him to drive an empty trailer from El Paso to Dallas on three to four occasions and paid him between $1,000 and $1,500 cash for each trip, documents show.
Rubio is facing one charge of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute and has a detention hearing set for 9:30 a.m. on Friday in El Paso before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leon Schydlower.