U. S. Border Patrol agents in the Imperial Valley were very busy over the weekend.

At about 8:50 a.m. Sunday , agents at the Highway 86 checkpoint arrested a man suspected of smuggling liquid methamphetamine hidden inside on his pickup's gas tanks. 22-year old Rene Elizalde , a U.S. citizen , was referred to secondary inspection after a Border Patrol canine team alerted to the truck. Using a fiber-scope , agents checked the gas tanks and discovered 75 pounds of liquid meth in one of the tanks. The meth has a street value of nearly $200,000. Elizalde was turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration for further investigation.

At about 3:30 p.m. Sunday , agents arrested a 35-year old Mexican national at the Highway 86 checkpoint. A canine team alerted to a vehicle. Further investigation led to the discovery of 61 wrapped packages hidden in floor compartments. 56 of the packages tested positive for methamphetamine and the other 5 packages tested positive for cocaine. The street value of the combined contraband is about $450,000. 

At about 10:35 p.m. Sunday , Border Patrol agents assigned to the Highway 111 checkpoint stopped a stolen car near Mecca , California. A 29-year old woman driver was arrested and turned over to the California Highway Patrol for prosecution. 

At about 1:50 p.m. Monday Border Patrol agents encountered a man suspected of crossing into the U.S. from Mexico about 11 miles west of the Calexico port of entry. Agents confirmed that the man , 63-year old Jose C. Gomez , was a convicted sex offender who had been sentenced to prison in Georgia in 2007 for Felony Child Molestation and had been convicted of Felony Abduction and Kidnapping in Virginia in 1999. Gomez is being held in Federal custody pending prosecution.