Border Patrol: Liquid meth discovered inside pickup’s gas tank

Border Patrol agents discovered over $190,000 worth of liquid methamphetamine inside a pickup truck’s gas tank at the Highway 86 checkpoint Sunday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said 22-year-old Rene Elizalde approached the checkpoint in a 1997 Ford F-250 at about 8:50 a.m. After a K9 team alerted to the vehicle, agents referred Elizalde for a secondary inspection.

During the inspection, the K9 alerted to the driver’s side of the vehicle again. Authorities used a fiberscope camera to search the vehicle’s two-gas tanks. In one of the gas tanks, agents noticed a liquid that did not look like gasoline. The substance was tested and resulted positive for the characteristics of methamphetamine.

“Liquid methamphetamine is an extremely dangerous form of the narcotic and thankfully our agents were able to prevent it from advancing further into the United States,” said Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez. “Our communities are much safer with these drugs off our streets.”

The narcotics weighed 75 pounds with an estimated street value of $198,750.

Elizalde, a U.S. citizen, the vehicle and the narcotics were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration for further investigation.