Raid renews fears of student drug access

The discovery of large quantities of marijuana and ecstasy in an apartment close to campus has police concerned that the drugs may have been easily accessible to UA students.

According to police records, Patrick B. Doyle was pulled over on a routine traffic stop around 1 a.m. Aug. 16. The stop led to Doyle being charged with possession of marijuana for sale, transportation of marijuana for sale and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Reports stated police first saw Doyle's vehicle, a rental car, parked in an alley near East Speedway Boulevard. When police approached, Doyle quickly pulled away and police later pulled the car over after running the license plates and seeing they were stolen.

Doyle was acting suspicious and the car smelled of marijuana, reports stated.

The stop eventually led to the confiscation of more than three pounds of marijuana.

After interviewing Doyle, police were led to an apartment that they searched and found $12,000 in cash, 63 marijuana plants and 250 ecstasy pills.

Sgt. Eugene Mejia, UAPD spokesman, said it was easy to determine the drugs were not for personal use because of the large quantity. He said the drugs could have gotten into the hands of students.

"The apartment where the drugs were found was right across from campus," Mejia said. "It concerns us that a substantial amount of drugs was available to students in the area."

Mejia said police suspect there are other people involved in the case.

"We're attempting to identify the owner of the drugs in the apartment, along with who cultivated the marijuana," he said.

PCC students targeted for financial aid scam

With the rising cost of college tuition, many UA and Pima Community College students are forced to look for financial help wherever they can get it. However, recent phone calls telling students they have received a financial award and asking them to pay a fee of $250 before receiving the award have police suspecting a scam.

Sgt. Eugene Mejia, UAPD spokesman, said police were informed of the scam after two Pima students were contacted by someone claiming to be a financial aid representative. Along with asking for the $250 fee to receive the grant, the caller also asked the students for personal financial account information. The two students reported the calls to officials at Pima College who then contacted UAPD to inform them of the scam.

Although no UA students have reported similar incidents, Mejia said UA students could also be targets.

"Students should be very cautious about giving out personal information," Mejia said. "There are a lot of scams out there."

Mejia said it was not a UAPD case but felt it was important to warn students.

"We wanted to put information out to the campus to prevent people from becoming victims," he said. "Students should be prepared."