NILAND, Calif. – U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the El Centro Sector arrested a sex offender Tuesday morning.

The incident occurred at around 6:45 a.m., when an agent assigned to roving patrol duties near the Highway 111 Checkpoint encountered two men walking near Hot Mineral Spa Road. The agent spoke with the men and determined that both men were illegally present in the United States. The agent arrested both men and transported them to the Highway 111 Checkpoint for immigration and criminal history screening.

Agents conducted records checks, which revealed that one man was identified as Nicson Valenzuela-Redondo, a 23-year-old Honduran national, who was convicted of “Rape by Force or Fear” in 2016, out of Riverside County. Valenzuela was sentenced to 3 years confinement for his conviction.

Agents arrested Nicson

Valenzuela-Redondo, a

convicted sex offender.

The second man was identified as a 20-year-old Honduran national who was previously removed from the United States in 2019. Valenzuela was also removed from the United States in 2019 as an aggravated felon.

Both men are being held in federal custody pending further criminal prosecution.

Valenzuela is the seventh sex offender apprehended in fiscal year 2020.