All language subtitles for Drug Wars s02e08

On this episode of Drug Wars, the
Dominican Republic's drug enforcement

undercover in an attempt to dismantle a
Venezuelan cartel.

And U .S. authorities join the operation
to track down narcos smuggling drugs

into the Dominican Republic.

The decades -long war on drugs is a
constant battle.

Drugs are menacing our society. With the
growing demand in the United States,

cartels are moving an endless supply of
drugs.

Positive for cocaine.

Fusion is taking you inside the drug
war. To the front lines of Operation

Martillo, a multinational counter
-narcotics operation.

In just three months, we witnessed over
15 tons of drug seizures, totaling over

$800 million.

This is Drug Wars.

The Caribbean Corridor has some 90 tons
of drugs passing through the region

every year, making the Dominican
Republic the main hub for illegal

The country's National Drug Control
Agency, or DNCD, is busier than ever

monitoring drug trafficking in the area.

The DNCD's intel strategy is based on
digital and ground surveillance to gain

access to ringleaders in the drug trade.

An intel agent gets a strong lead from
an associate in South America about a

Venezuelan narco picking up a drug
shipment in the area.

Lately, traffickers have been sending
drugs from Venezuela by the boatload,

mostly due to law enforcement cracking
down on the cartels in Colombia.

As cartels find new drug routes, the
Dominican Republic has become a new

destination for drugs heading into the U
.S., as well as Europe.

With fresh intel about the Venezuelan
cartel's next move in the Dominican

Republic, the undercover team hits the
streets.

A nivel de lo que a droga se refiere,
nos encargamos más de trabajar lo que

las redes dentro del país con lo que es
las redes internacionales. Mira, yo

recibí una llamada de una fuente.

Tenemos un activo, un beneficio, que se
va a juntar ahí con un pecador ya

reconocido de la zona sur de Baní, Raúl
le llama.

Necesitamos saber dónde se va a quedar
el dinero en el solano. Lo apuestan.

Okay, Commander. When I get there, I'll
let you know.

Solo, 50.

Copy that, 50.

Commander, let's make a face -to -face
meeting where we always meet at the

meeting point to talk about a mission
we're going to carry out, Commander.

Okay, Commander Jimenez had already told
me.

The undercover unit decides to call in
their tactical unit for backup, trained

to handle high -risk situations like
this one in case something goes wrong.

The two

units meet and plan

the details of the operation.

It's key that they maintain
communication to know when to react and

early move that could blow the mission.

About to face the drug kingpin from
Venezuela, the team knows they rarely

alone, so the units must remain vigilant
in case the drug lord has sentinels

already in the area.

With less than 24 hours until the drugs
are supposed to be in transit, this

could be the only chance to track down
the Venezuelan and follow him to uncover

the rest of his operation on the island.

Do you see where we are?

Do you have visual contact with us?

Affirmative, affirmative.

We have control of you already.

Okay, okay. I think that's the little
red Jeep that gave us the information.

Let's see if you can see the Benesco.

Cochi, don't you think that's Raul? I
think he's there.

I can't see him.

No, but look at the walk.

You're old.

As a local boat captain who knows the
most vulnerable points along the coast,

Raul's developed a reputation for being
a hot commodity, with the connections to

smuggled drugs through the Dominican
Republic.

The Venezuelan suspect arrives on the
scene, apparently by himself.

We don't know if they're with more
people. Up to now, they're alone.

Copy, copy.

I have them in sight.

Both of you and them.

Venezuela and Colombia make borders and
stay directly in front of us

through the Caribbean.

That's why their invasion here is
permanent through...

. .

.

. .

Okay.

Undercover agents will try to get the
suspect's license plate and as much

as possible to begin building a case and
find out who is working for this cartel

boss.

At this point, they can't make an arrest
until they gather enough evidence

connecting the Venezuelan and his people
to the actual drugs coming into the

island.

As the agent approaches the Venezuelan's
vehicle, they spot a suspicious man

walking around, possibly a guard for the
cartel. The team decides to fall back

and remain unseen.

In the Dominican Republic, an undercover
mission to bust the Venezuelan cartel

is underway.

When a possible watchman shows up on the
scene and puts everyone on high alert.

If this could be a... a... a... a...
a... a... a... a... a... a... a... a...

a...

If the watchman spots the undercover
agent, they could blow the whole mission

and even mistake the agents for a rival
cartel and start shooting.

Okay,

okay.

The suspects suddenly wrap up their
powwow. The team thinks they might have

flagged by their watchmen.

They decide to keep a safe distance and
see where the pursuit takes them, hoping

they have not blown the mission.

They tail the Venezuelan back to a
residential area.

So far, it looks like their undercover
unit was not spotted.

They continue to gather intel before
leaving the scene.

My lady, excuse me, what is this street
called?

This is street 10.

Street 10.

Because this is street 7, this is Jesús
Piñeiro.

As far as intelligence of the field is
concerned, so far we are doing well,

because we were able to document the
meeting where they directly talk,

communicate, and we also have the place
where the Venezuelan is staying.

So far in that part we are doing well.
We have to wait for them to make their

move so we can do ours.

With surveillance set on the cartel
boss, the unit also gets confirmation

the drugs will be arriving within 24
hours.

Now, the plan is to capture the
smugglers as they enter Dominican

wait for the Venezuelan boss to collect
the drugs.

Last night's undercover operation in the
Dominican Republic has already been

carefully shared with various
international agencies, all part of

Martillo, to see who can join the hunt
for the smugglers heading their way.

The Customs and Border Protection Base
in Puerto Rico receives the info and

joins in the effort.

What we have today, it was a confirmed
departure of a GOFAS out of South

America. It was destined to the Valle de
Yuma in Santo Domingo.

We're the front line in attacking the
contraband coming into the United States

and the Caribbean.

We operate between here and South
America. There's nothing between us.

There's only 1 ,000 kilos of cocaine out
there, go -fast type vessel.

We flew on it last night in the area, no
joy.

We're going to see if we can come across
this guy today.

We just received the morning brief.

There's a lot of information out there,
a lot of smuggling activity taking

place, and now we're going out to check
the airplane out, prep it for departure,

and soon we'll be airborne and start a
patrol.

The Office of Air and Marine, or OAM,
will attempt to locate the Venezuelan go

-fast heading north towards Dominican
Republic.

But finding a 30 -foot speedboat in the
ocean isn't an easy task, even with

state -of -the -art technology.

The aircraft we fly on is a Dash 8
maritime patrol aircraft.

It's a very sophisticated aircraft.

We have a very sensitive radar package
on it, specifically designed to detect

small targets, small maritime targets in
heavy sea states.

We're going to get a good radar picture
of the area.

It's going to tell us all the different
boats in the area.

And then we're going to slowly, one by
one, identify those targets with our

camera.

Hey, gentlemen.

Yes, sir. Yes.

We're good to taxi.

Flight control.

R check.

I'm still waiting on the radar.

U .S. Homeland Security's workhorse in
the Caribbean is the Dash 8 surveillance

aircraft. It flies at an average cruise
speed of 334 miles per hour and gives

the OAM a live bird -eye view of any
possible illegal activity.

They're hitting us hard. We've got to
hit back really hard. They said they

the boat's doing 20 knots.

So I don't see anything right now. So
we're just going to work. We're going to

work our way north. We're going to
zigzag back up north and see what we

Okay, let's go to the 69 and go up.

The Dash 8 comes with a FLIR.

or forward -looking infrared imaging
system, able to record clear video from

,500 feet. A good video recording can be
considered evidence and will help law

enforcement build a case.

Our sensor package allows us to maintain
a covert.

presence in the area. And that's really
critical in our area because we're

looking for prosecutions.

We're not looking to just deter drug
trafficking in the area. We want to put

drug smugglers in prison.

We have a vessel south and to the east,
but I'm going to run you down the 68,

get closer and stay outside the fur.

Okay.

We should be able to see, but we've got
to get behind. It's behind that cloud,

that angle on the camera.

We should be able to see, but we've got
to get behind. It's behind that cloud.

A GOFAST boat coming from Venezuela is
moving drugs en route to the Dominican

Republic.

The OAM is helping Dominican authorities
track the GOFAST boat.

We detected an Edwardonio -type vessel
with twin engines.

Three subjects were on board, and you
can see the standard drug smuggling

that comes directly from South America.

Jorge, do you mind contacting the
American authorities and see if

they have any marine assets available or
if they can launch one of their Tucanos

to give us assist on this? We're going
to be bingo fuel shortly. I'm not sure

how much play time we have.

Okay, got it.

Arma Dominica, I want Micromius to
inform you we have a vessel, a vessel

of Saona Island, approximately 50 miles,
heading north.

Vessel is an Edward Doño type, twin
outboards, three persons on board.

Dominican Republic's Air Force is also
alerted to join the operation.

It will relay info with the U .S. plane
and help track down the smugglers.

Dominican forces are also well equipped
with state -of -the -art technology and

will be flying an A -29B Super Tucano
with a surveillance package that also

includes the FLIR system.

The Super Tucano, which can reach top
speed at 368 miles per hour, is a highly

maneuverable aircraft designed to
operate in high temperature, humid

and low altitude.

It's a modern day dogfighter in today's
drug war.

Once we get to the point, we will go
down to 3 ,000 feet and we will stay

between 3 ,000 and 4 ,000 feet.

That height also, from 3 ,000 to 5 ,000
feet, serves as cover or cover.

So that when the boat goes with its
engines on, they do

not capture the sound of us because...

Getting info from the OAM's Dash 8,
finally the Super Tucano locks eyes on

target.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,

10.

At this point, the Dash 8 is low on fuel
and will hand off surveillance to the

Super Tucano.

The plane will continue its pursuit and
pass on its coordinates to the DNCD so

they can prepare and coordinate with the
interceptor boats.

We're going to confiscate as many drugs
as we can from them. We're going to take

their money from them. We're going to
make them want to shift areas and not be

here.

On the next episode of Drug Wars.

The multinational operation to hunt down
a major shipment of drugs from

Venezuela continues.

And in the streets of the Dominican
Republic, addicts struggle with drug

overdoses.