Original subtitles

The San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Passports, IDs, any proof of citizenship.

Cartels use increasingly bold methods to cross narcotics into the U.S.

In this facility in particular, the drug smuggling never stops.

A lot of the trends we are seeing right now is young males with drugs on their

bodies. Are you together?

Usually they come in in the morning when kids are going to school.

Officers are on alert to spot these so-called body carriers.

I'm looking for any nervousness, any jitters, anything that would send off

red flags.

It's 9 a.m.

A traveler is transported to secondary.

after giving officers suspicious answers.

We got a call that we have a body carrier from Pedestrian West.

He's 21 years old.

He is a U.S. citizen.

The officer asked him, where are you going? He said, I'm going to work.

And he had a backpack on like a...

Kind of like what a school kid would wear, not somebody going to work. So he

checked the bag. He noticed the bag was empty.

Why is the bag empty?

And so that's a red flag.

Security officer, one coming in.

The officer did an immediate pat-down.

There were two packages found, and in this case, it was his lower back.

People will do whatever they can to try and get narcotics here.

It's early evening at the Progreso International Bridge.

What are you bringing today? A dog.

And officers are vetting travelers returning from day trips to Mexico.

What are you doing in Mexico?

We were just here with our friends. I went for my last visit.

All right, sir, go ahead. Thank you. I won't.

No.

One man coming back with his girlfriend after a date across the border.

His flag is having a warrant out for his arrest.

He is apprehended immediately.

As this gentleman who applied for entry today, it looks like he has a warrant

for the arrest out of Brooks County for smuggling a person.

Public records reveal the man is alleged to have tried to transport an illegal

migrant across a Border Patrol checkpoint.

For the right amount of money,

some US citizens are prepared to smuggle migrants looking for work across the

border.

Did you know the person you were traveling with?

No. You didn't know them?

No. And it was just you and the person?

Yeah. So you were traveling with a complete stranger in your vehicle?

Yeah.

Did they pay you?

No, no, no. I was giving him a ride because I was getting to work and they

found him in the car and they detained him.

How did you meet him?

My friend recommended him to go work with me.

Your friend recommended. What did you do?

I was in the oil field back then.

In the oil field? Yeah. Okay. So how long did you know the gentleman before

he was in the vehicle?

Like a couple hours.

Had you been arrested for anything else before?

Back then, the demeanors, the DWI.

Okay.

So we'll let you know if there was anything.

Okay. Thank you.

Okay.

Despite the man's claim that police let him go, the average punishment for

people smuggling across U.S.

borders... is 15 months imprisonment.

People here who live in the valley, we know exactly what happens at the

checkpoint. So for you to trust someone blindly and have someone jump in your

vehicle just to get past the checkpoint, it should be an immediate red flag.

He should have known what was going on.

While investigations continue...

Officer Alvarado is concerned the man may also have contraband hidden in his

belongings.

He's got in trouble for a variety of different things, so it wouldn't

surprise me to see that he's trying to get something past us in something like

his shoes and the cotton candy.

You know, it could have been an innocent trip to Progreso, but it could be a

quick smuggling trip for him as well.

And that's what we're here to find out.

In San Diego, a 21-year-old has been detained after trying to walk across

the border into the U.S. with suspected narcotics hidden under his clothing.

People will do whatever they can to try and get narcotics here.

Once the packages have been removed from the man's body, they are taken to the

seizure room.

We don't know exactly what it is right now.

It could be cocaine, fentanyl.

Or meth.

Those are the top three that are usually smuggled across the border.

I can get my PPE on.

Officer Morales prepares to test the contraband.

Take the first.

You never know what you're testing.

Since exposure to the unknown substance could be harmful, the process is carried

out in a controlled environment.

There's our fume hood. Pretty much keeps us safe. It prevents the narcotic,

whatever powder, crystal from hitting us in the eye.

There's a vacuum that sucks up all the fumes, if there's any fumes that reflect

or come off the substance.

We see fentanyl here all the time, so whatever we can take to be safe.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin, and with a

chance it could be within the packages, Officer Morales proceeds with caution.

So I'm going to just get into it, see what we got.

Sometimes you can feel the crunch of an item.

Right now, it's a white powdery substance. It could be anything. It

could be cocaine. It could be fentanyl.

So we better find out.

In progresso, officers have detained a man.

who was wanted for previously smuggling an illegal migrant from Mexico through a

Border Patrol checkpoint.

He says he was released by police after claiming he didn't know

who his passenger was.

For you to trust someone blindly and have someone jump in your vehicle just

to get past the checkpoint, it should be an immediate red flag.

While he waits to hear from local law enforcement.

If the man will be taken into police custody, Officer Alvarado wants to

ensure he isn't hiding any contraband in his belongings.

And I just want to make sure that there's nothing in here.

The cigarettes, very easy to smuggle something else up like this. See, we've

seen where they usually take the tobacco out, and they'll put fentanyl inside,

and then they'll put it back up.

And they'll put it in there, and it's very easy to miss.

Unless you actually sit down and you look at it, you kind of squeeze a little

bit.

The tiniest bit of fentanyl is worth, you know, hundreds of dollars. A

ridiculous amount.

In all respect, it's enough to kill you. So it's dangerous, but we have seen it.

All his baggage is... All the food is clean.

Everything appears as good.

The search finds nothing suspicious.

All right, thank you. Bye.

And a decision is made.

about the man's potential extradition.

So we just received confirmation that the county that was looking for him,

they have their limit of 45 miles.

And we are, I believe, 91 miles away from the county. So we're outside of the

extradition zone.

So the county is not going to pick him up.

He's going to be released. We're going to return everything back to him.

But at least the good thing is that now he'll know that he does have a warrant

out for his arrest.

You're going to be free to go.

A free man for now.

The traveler wants to know how to clear his name.

Unless he clears up his outstanding warrant with the authorities, the man

will be detained every time he tries to cross the border.

He really wants to go out and fix it so that he can travel freely with his

family. He's trying to make sure that nothing else happens again so that he

can be a good father to his kids.

It seems like he's trying to fix it and trying to move on.

It's good to see people can move on past their past mistakes.

In San Diego, Officer Morales is testing two packages a male body carrier

attempted to smuggle into the U.S.

Sometimes you can feel the crunch of an item.

Right now, it's a white powdery substance. It could be anything. It

could be cocaine. It could be fentanyl.

So we're about to find out.

The device he's using can identify 14,000 different substances.

Every substance absorbs light in its own special way.

This shoots a laser into the substance and the reflection we get back from the

substance tells us what it is.

First spray came back positive for cocaine.

Others always mix a little.

I'm going to test the second one.

These ones are already packed differently.

They added rubber to this one.

Same thing in cocaine.

Still up for the officer.

So now we can get the weight.

2.32 kilograms.

That's a lot of cocaine to refer a body carrier.

Had these two bundles sold in the U.S., this cocaine would have made a cartel

around $70,000.

It will now be destroyed.

That's good. It's not going into the country. So not killing people. People

are causing crime for it.

That's a very good day to keep it off the street.

The suspect will now be questioned by Homeland Security Investigation.

The HSI investigator will do his interview, and he'll determine whether

we're going to federally prosecute or not.

If convicted, he's facing at least five years in prison.

They go ahead and take that risk that they can get by us. But, you know,

eventually they will get caught.

It's the end-of-the-day rush at the Camino Real International Bridge.

As travelers try to enter the U.S. before the crossing closes.

They try to beat us in a way where they want to make it before 11 o'clock. They

want to be in the rush, which they think that being the last one to cross the

bridge, we're not going to inspect the vehicle the way they're supposed to be

inspected.

No. We're going to do our inspections the way they're supposed to run.

One driver crossing with his family has had his vehicle randomly selected for an

X-ray.

We look for any tampering, anything that is unusual.

Officers are checking for any signs the pickup has been modified.

This area right here, this is not normal.

The color dark like that means that it's lead-lined.

Usually they do that in order for us not to be able to catch it.

Looks like it can be something hidden underneath the seat.

Mexican drug cartels are known to create lead-lined compartments to prevent

narcotics from being visible on the X-ray.

This gentleman was driving with his family.

There was one child that was sitting in the back.

I'm not sure if it was to conceal the anomaly, but we're going to inspect and

see what it is.

According to my neighbors, you can see like four blocks.

They've done that before where they make one compartment, but underneath there's

another compartment.

See, all those seeds right here, they haven't been taken off.

You can see the screws where they've been tampered.

Let's take the vehicle to the back so we can look a little bit more.

Officers take the vehicle to a secure location for further inspection.

This vehicle has been modified right here in the back. The seats are a little

higher than usual. You can see it right here.

Now that we have it here, it shouldn't be this high.

So you can see where everything's been raised.

This gets to work.

Underneath right there was...

That area is, and that's what we're worried about right now.

With evidence mounting that this vehicle is being used for smuggling, the driver

is detained.

Most

people

don't want to have their family involved in something like this.

But some people don't care.

We still catch a lot of people like this.

Drug loads where they have the kids in the back and the car seat, and right

underneath there is drugs.

If any narcotics are found in this vehicle, the driver could be facing more

than 20 years in jail.

In Eagle Pass, officers check vehicles for foods, plants, or animals that may

carry pests or diseases to stop dangerous items from entering the U.S.

Any travelers transporting

goods which could be in violation are sent for inspection.

Simplest terms, if it comes from a plant, declare it. If it comes from an

animal, declare it.

If it can cross, you can keep it. If it can't, then we give the option of take

it back, or they can abandon it here, depending on what it is.

Today, a vehicle carrying a large number of coolers has caught the eye of

agriculture specialist Morales.

This vehicle was coming from Sinaloa, going to here in Texas.

He had some items.

And upon inspection of these items, fresh frozen shrimp

were discovered.

Importing shrimp can pose a serious health risk to consumers because they

can contain bacteria, which could lead to food poisoning.

Texas game warden Barry, an expert on aquatics, is called in.

Things like oysters, shrimp, catfish, tilapia, all those things that come from

Mexico.

They can cross, but you need the proper documentation to do so.

Shellfish have to be kept within certain temperatures. Otherwise, it can be very

detrimental to the public.

You're talking about sickness and possibly even death with oysters.

So that's why it matters. That's why we're here.

The driver says he intended to take the shrimp to a family gathering in Texas

and didn't know there were rules around importing it.

Anyone bringing shellfish into the U.S. must have written proof of where it was

purchased.

When you try to import aquatic resources, you have to have

documentation.

Without the proper

paperwork, the driver could be looking at a $10,000 fine.

At the Camino Real International Bridge, Officer Treviso suspects a

driver heading to San Antonio with his family is smuggling narcotics.

After an X-ray revealed what looks like a red-lined compartment underneath the

back seats of his pickup.

A good indicator there is something there.

Fold this seat forward.

Officers are trying to get a clear view of the vehicle's floor where evidence of

modification has been spotted.

You can see the screws right here where they've been taken off a lot.

Can you remove the plug, the round one?

Officers find an access point to the hidden compartment.

But nothing could be seen inside.

They just removed a piece of metal to see if there was anything underneath,

but there's nothing underneath now.

So we're just going to try to maybe see on the other side.

Yeah, from here to here.

Should be another trap door maybe on this side?

On the other side of the vehicle.

Right here.

Officers attempt to find another way in.

Put the flashlight right there on the screwdriver.

See if it goes to the back.

The other way.

So that one is the bottom.

Although the vehicle's obviously been modified, this time there's nothing in

the compartment.

They help us out for future investigations.

So, bus man, what do we do?

Put it back?

Close it?

This is not so much fun for him.

With no contraband found, the driver and his family are free to go.

But he's likely to have been spooked by the discovery of the hidden compartment.

So the vehicle's going to be released.

which would have found some drugs on it, but since we didn't, well, I'm pretty

sure this guy, after we check his vehicle today, he's probably never going

to cross with that vehicle again because he's probably going to think that we're

looking for his vehicle.

In Eagle Path, a man has tried to import a cooler full of frozen shrimp with no

documentation.

Things like oysters, shrimp, catfish, tilapia, they can cross, but you need

the proper documentation to do so.

He's now facing up to a $10,000 fine for violating the rules about importing

marine wildlife.

We need to know where they came from for diseases, what temp they were kept at,

and providing the documentation is necessary for everything that we do.

Whether intentional or not, the man has still broken the law.

Game warden Berry must decide his punishment.

The man

is lucky. Warden Berry has taken him at his word and spares him a penalty.

But the shrimp must be seized.

Look at the whiskers on that guy.

You got to pay extra at the restaurants for that big. The jumbo size? Yeah, for

sure. The shrimp will be one of around 2,500 food-based seizures made today by

agriculture specialists across all U.S. ports of entry.

It's part of our job to protect American agriculture and aquatic.

is an agriculture product.

This is what we do. We're trying to keep America safe.

The Progreso International Bridge links the U.S. with the Mexican town of Nuevo

Progreso.

a popular destination for travelers wanting to pick up cheap medication to

take home.

Today,

a family heading home to Corpus Christi has been referred to secondary

inspection.

doing in Mexico today?

My sister got a tattoo. My son got a tattoo.

Okay, go ahead and turn the vehicle off. I'm going to have you all come stand

next to the table for me, okay?

Officer Terrio wants to ensure there are no controlled meds hidden anywhere in

the vehicle.

Is there any tramadol, Xanax, Axion, anything like that?

I didn't bring none of that.

One Xanax?

They're all in fact.

Okay, I'm going to have you guys stand on that side of the table, okay?

The legal limit for crossing Xanax without a prescription is one bottle per

person.

Found it.

Officers need to check they aren't carrying anything else.

Can I see your person?

Yes.

Oh, whose was that?

Bottle of Z-Pak, right?

So that's not Z-Pak inside.

That's Xanax.

100 extra anti-anxiety pills have been hidden in a bottle labeled as

antibiotics inside one of the women's handbags.

That has nothing to do with that. That's not how this works.

You can't smuggle drugs in a different medication bottle.

The woman's son now claims the meds are his.

I think.

But why is it in a Z-Pak bottle? Okay, everybody stop. No, you stop.

Okay, my bad.

This is drug smuggling. This is a scheduled drug. It is hidden in this

bottle. It says it is Z-Pak, which is an antibiotic.

This is not Z-Pak. It's a scheduled drug, which is drug smuggling. So now

you're a drug smuggler.

It was in your purse.

Therefore, you are also complicit.

You've done this as well.

Smuggling controlled medication.

can carry a penalty of $1,000 and a year in prison. The mother and son are taken

inside for further questioning.

The Eagle Pass International Bridge is frequently targeted by cartels to

transport contraband into Mexico, using independent couriers who may be unaware

of what they are carrying.

And we're checking for encargos, which is unaccompanied goods.

Unaccompanied goods are basically items that they were given to these people to

bring into Mexico by an unknown person, and typically they don't know what's

inside the boxes.

that they're bringing over.

So those are the ones that we're targeting right now.

This evening, a convoy of two trailers traveling together has been stopped.

Just park it right there, will you?

Their cargo is sent through the X-ray.

Officer Samaniego believes smugglers may have hidden illicit goods within the

trailers.

They bring the stuff into Eagle Pass, they drop them off at a storage

facility, and then they reload the trailers, and then the driver just

drives it across the border.

Various tactics are used to try to ensure any illegal items remain

undetected. Usually it's the first thing they load and the last thing to come

off. With them thinking or hoping that we get tired and we say, okay, we've got

to stop, and that way they don't have to get everything down.

We got a great group of guys that like to work, so, like Mr. Davila here, so we

end up getting everything down.

Looks like we got something here.

Suspiciously shaped objects are soon spotted in a box unloaded from one of

the trailers.

What's in that one?

Looks like ammo.

Go ahead and open it up.

Looks like there's a gun in there, too.

We got the screwdriver because I don't have gloves on.

We got it.

The officers suspect the cartel has hidden a firearm and bullets inside two

car jump starters.

You want to do this?

Also, these need to come off, too? Yeah.

In Mexico, firearms and ammo can sell on the black market for double the retail

cost in the U.S.

Over there, nobody can have weapons unless you're military.

That's the only people that can have weapons over there.

They'll get it any which way they can.

There you go. There you go. It cracked.

It cracked. Open it from the bottom.

No, it's got foam, so it's not going to come off. Just let it fall. Give it a

break open.

Drop it really hard.

They use phones like house phones so that you won't hear the rattling of the

ammo inside.

There you go. That's like ammo.

The Holy Grail.

In progresso.

This is not a Z-Pak. It's a scheduled drug, which is drug smuggling. So now

you're a drug smuggler.

A family returning from Mexico.

has been detained after 100 prescription anti-anxiety pills were found hidden in

a different bottle.

It's an offense which could be punishable by a year in jail.

When we checked the lady's purse, we ended up finding inside of a pack of

antibiotics, there was Xanax that was hidden inside.

The young man has taken claim for it, saying it was his.

So we're just trying to analyze the situation as it keeps going.

Officer Terrio.

suspects the bottles were switched to enable the young man to cross with more

meds than permitted.

You guys knew you couldn't bring more than one, right?

Well, then why was it in there?

I have no idea.

You don't know why it's in there? No, he just gave us a bag. He bought a bottle

of Z-Pak and surprised us. No, he just gave us a bag.

We see this every single day, that people put it in the wrong medication

bottle. The family claims the pharmacy put the extra Xanax pills in their bags

without their knowledge. But officers...

are skeptical.

The

son's

mislabeled bottle could put him in serious risk of prison time.

Officers decide on a pat down.

to establish if he's smuggling anything else.

The

pat

-down finds no other contraband.

leaving officers with a decision to make.

You're taking claim for that?

Yes, ma'am. Okay. Can I talk to you for a minute? Yes. Right over here? Okay.

Because you don't have any prior offenses, I'm going to let you just

return it to Mexico and not get arrested today.

Are we okay with that? Yeah. Okay. You are going to be checked every time you

come in now.

However long we think is necessary.

I don't even care. You didn't do a better thing. You got a job to do. I got

a job to do.

Okay. My job is to take clean.

Your job is to take care of them back.

Okay. Okay? All right. So let's do what you got to do. Okay. We're just going to

have you return it to Mexico.

The young man has avoided a penalty this time.

This is a get-out-of-jail-free card for today.

And once he's disposed of the excess pills in Mexico, they're all free to go.

Thank you, honey.

Of course.

Hopefully this was a wake-up call and he'll learn his lesson not to smuggle

scheduled medication.

It's just another Saturday in Progresso.

An Eagle Path.

An inspection of a convoy of two trailers.

Looks like we got something here.

Looks like ammo.

Looks like there's a gun in there, too.

Has uncovered suspected ammunition and a firearm hidden inside two car jump

starters.

There you go. The driver responsible

is a courier who claims the trailer was preloaded and has no knowledge of the

content.

We did some queries on the guy, no priors.

Usually that's good for them.

HSI will come in and do their investigation, and then we'll find out

what they want to do with him.

While he's interviewed by Homeland Security Investigations, the packages

are sent for further inspection.

We have 100 rounds of rifle ammunition.

100 rounds of . And we have

200 rounds of 9mm and another 40 rounds of rifle ammunition.

9mm.

We do have to put an appraised value, so what we do is we look them up on the

Internet, see how much they're valued at. I think the most expensive box was

like $76, so $500 worth of ammunition.

They'll probably double the price in Mexico.

The handgun is checked against a law enforcement database.

We just need to run the gun to make sure it's not stolen.

If it is, then...

You are more than likely to go to jail.

Being caught in possession of a stolen firearm in the U.S. can lead to a 10

-year imprisonment.

And I think that's going to be negative.

It has no hit for it being stolen.

A clean gun is good news for the courier, who has also cooperated fully

with the interviewer.

The driver was pretty straight up. He gave us the information we needed.

to look further into the investigation on where the gun and the ammo are coming

from. So we're pretty happy with the outcome of it. The driver, it was his

first offense, so our supervisor decided to let him go this time. He got lucky

today, so he gets to walk.

He may think twice about carrying unknown cargo in the future.

If he's caught transporting illicit goods again, the courier could be

charged up to $5,000, have his vehicle seized, or face jail time.

You know, it's weapons and ammo that we got off the street, so we're pretty

happy. It just helps our counterparts over there in Mexico take down some

weapons, take down some ammo that, you know, could save lives over there.

So the total, it ended up being one Glock, 43.

two magazines, and 440 rounds of assorted ammunition.

A pretty good lick for today.