3 CHARGED IN NARCOTICS STING

Three local men, including the Webb County district attorney's brother,
were behind bars Wednesday on charges they smuggled hundreds of pounds of
marijuana from Laredo through San Antonio to markets in Louisiana and Georgia.

Federal prosecutors allege Carlos Manuel Rubio, a trainer and owner of race
horses, organized the smuggling ring, which used track terminology as code
and at least once shipped narcotics in a horse trailer.

Rubio's brother is Webb County District Attorney Joe Rubio, whose office
has been targeted by a federal corruption probe. That investigation has
resulted in charges against an assistant district attorney.

Joe Rubio, who remains in office, has not been charged with any crime.

And federal prosecutors say the horse trainer's case stands alone.

"There is no connection to the FBI investigation of the Webb County
district attorney's office," U.S. attorney's office spokesman Daryl Fields
said Tuesday after Carlos Rubio appeared in federal court.

Also charged and held without bond were Nicholas Navarez Vargas, 44, and
Jose Valente Garza, 29.

Rubio, 39, and Vargas have prior drug-dealing convictions, according to an
affidavit by U.S. Customs Special Agent Timothy Wargo.

Garza was convicted of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in 1991, the
affidavit states.

Diana Irma Saenz, a 38-year-old believed to be Rubio's girlfriend, also
faces identical charges. However, she was released on bond.

They each face between five and 40 years in prison and up to $2 million in
fines if a jury convicts them of conspiring to distribute more than 100
kilograms of marijuana.

The charges are the result of a nine-month investigation by the multiagency
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.

According to Wargo's affidavit, an informant led Rubio to Texas Department
of Public Safety Sgt. David Campos, who was working undercover as a
potential customer.

Campos bought marijuana five times, usually in 20-pound bundles, according
to the affidavit.

Campos reported he was frisked for recording devices, and told his boots
looked like the kind worn by police. But as recently as two weeks ago,
Campos was arranging future deals.

Two informants allege they handled marijuana shipments and related payments
totaling more than $35,000 for Rubio.

A third informant told authorities that Vargas handled shipments as large
as 600 pounds, some of which he would stash in a Southeast Side auto garage.

The affidavit states that during a 1994 raid, San Antonio police found
$151,000 buried in flower pots in Vargas' previous home.

A detention hearing for Garza, Rubio and Vargas is scheduled for today.

Checked-by: Richard Lake