Original subtitles

The Camino Real International Bridge in Texas.

A prime route used by criminals to smuggle illicit good.

It's early evening on a busy Easter Sunday, and Officer

Handrahan has just flagged a suspicious pickup.

It's carrying an extra fuel tank.

commonly used to refuel industrial machinery.

But the driver of this vehicle doesn't fit the norm.

Concerned the woman could be working for a cartel, Officer Handrahan x-rays the

truck.

It's alarming, this large black square here. I should be able to look and see

all the way through the fuel tank.

I think it's probably a false bottom.

There will be diesel fuel on top, and then there's going to be some kind of

lead-lined false bottom.

A closer inspection reveals another red flag.

I noticed the crystallized substance on top of the tank.

A white substance seems to be leaking from the container.

The officers tested.

And there you go.

The positive results were met.

We found something.

Mike, Mike. Are we going to be put in jail? We have to do what we have to do.

Every year, $400 billion of dirty money is laundered into Latin America, much of

it the profits from drugs sold in the U.S.

In the

outbound lanes at the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge,

catching this cash in transit is a top priority.

We got the bad guys.

that are bringing the listed money back from whatever they took up north,

they're taking it back down south. Could be $100,000, could be $50,000, could be

$200,000.

They'll try and hide it. It's a cat and mouse game, and that's how we play here.

Today, a man traveling into Mexico has been stopped by Officer Sarmiento.

As he searches the car, the driver seems nervous.

Jackpot.

And officers soon find out why.

Stuffed down the side of the seat are several envelopes.

Check this out, man.

How many carrots is that one?

Three carrots.

The first packet.

contains a diamond.

One this size could be worth upward of $50,000.

Within the remaining envelopes are more precious stones.

And other valuable jewelry.

Meanwhile,

outside. Officers discover more envelopes.

Hidden in the footwell.

Inside one, an emerald diamond cluster ring.

Since any goods worth over $10,000 must be declared, officers need to know more

about the man's motives.

so we can find out whether he's doing something illegal or not.

The man claims he's just a courier, hired to deliver the goods to an address

in Mexico.

The officers

think he could be a mule for a cartel, using the diamonds as the perfect

money laundering currency.

Diamonds would be a good way to launder money because diamonds are worth a lot

and they're smaller to transport.

And they'll sell them over there and get their money in Mexico.

Until the officers get answers, this man is going nowhere.

130 miles away, at the Camino Real bridge, officers have found a white

crystalline substance on the back of a pickup truck.

While her vehicle is taken to a secure area for inspection,

the driver's condition has taken a turn for the worse.

The woman claims to have forgotten her insulin.

In danger of collapsing from high blood sugar, she's rushed to the hospital.

They're going to take her to emergency room to get her blood sugar, glucose

back down where it needs to be.

It's a strange thing, you know, you remember to fill your tank full of

liquid meth, but you forget to throw your insulin pills in your purse.

Undeterred, the officers begin their inspection of the fuel tank.

We're going to open it. Whatever it takes, we're going to open it.

Hoping to discover exactly how the meth is hidden and how much of it there is,

a broken fuel pump immediately grabs their attention.

It's weird how that pump doesn't work.

That's just there. It's fake. That's got to have a pipe that goes all the way to

the bottom so they can suck it out.

So you can see the welds here where it's been either replaced, repaired, or

something. This is factory.

That's not factory.

Even if it did turn on, it won't suck no fuel because it doesn't have a pipe that

goes inside.

The tank is full to the brim with diesel, but with no working pump to get

it out.

Officers had assumed the meth would be hidden under some kind of false bottom.

They now suspect otherwise.

So right there, methamphetamine.

It seems the drug smugglers have simply dumped the meth directly into the fuel,

meaning the drug will be permanently contaminated.

It is dangerous to use any type of drugs.

Especially this concealment method where they mix it with fuel, that's where they

put it into the body.

Possibly not knowing about it, but it is a sad reality.

If it makes a truck run, what would it do to a body?

at the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge.

Officers are questioning a man caught trying to smuggle diamonds into Mexico.

They believe he could be a mule for a drug cartel, using the jewels for money

laundering.

The subject gave a negative declaration for money and anything else over $10

,000. So far what we have, it is over $10,000, so it should have been

something. that should have been declared. These are monetary items that

when somebody comes and goes, they're using them and it's as good as cash.

The man claims he's just a courier for hire and has provided the address of a

warehouse where he says he was asked to deliver the diamonds.

But it can't explain why he didn't declare them or why they were hidden.

The gentleman was saying that he was paid by somebody in Mexico to come to

the U.S., pick it up. Him himself carrying them over there is not a big

thing with us.

The problem is where he tried to deceive us, he knew what he was doing. He knew

that he had to hide them.

To determine what penalty the man should face, officers

inspect the jewels more closely and assess their approximate worth.

The total value of the 15 diamonds and other jewelry comes

to more than $70,000.

It's going to be a very costly day for the man.

The diamonds are going to be seized for failure to declare them.

The estimated worth was $74,000.

It's above the threshold, over $10,000.

If he fails to declare, his visa will be canceled and the subject will be

returned to Mexico.

Diamonds are forever, yes sir.

Make sure you declare if you're taking diamonds to Mexico.

Night falls at the Camino Real International Bridge.

Officer Hernandez leads the investigation into a vehicle carrying

meth hidden inside a tank full of diesel.

Right there.

Methamphetamine.

The cartel's plan would have been to siphon off the content when it reached

its destination before separating the drug from the fuel.

This right here?

It's meth.

Once all this fuel dries out, it's going to be crystallized like that. So give it

a few minutes until this dries out, but it's a clear indication that it's going

to have to be chemically extracted if they would have made it through their

hands.

Now, officers must find their own way of extracting the liquid from the vehicle.

A specialized mechanic arrives to assist.

Almost half of all drug seizures in the U.S. involve meth.

It is a highly profitable market worth $17 billion in the U.S. alone.

We're going to need a lot more buckets, sir.

Cartels will use any method to get meth across the border with little regard for

the safety of the people using it.

Removing this contaminated fuel is a long and potentially dangerous process.

requiring protective equipment.

It's all getting in like a paste form, and it's slowly sinking to the bottom.

Little by little, it's going to the very bottom. So whenever an average person

looks at this tank, they're going to see diesel on top, but the actual mess,

it settles on the bottom. It's separating itself right there.

After two hours of siphoning out the liquid, the tank is finally running dry.

7, 28, 29, 30 buckets of liquid meth. That is a lot of meth for 150 gallons of

liquid meth in a diesel tank.

Definitely a win for us.

The buckets are weighed.

So our total with plastic, 1,240 pounds, 150 gallons.

The total seizure amount is 150 gallons, meaning this meth could have a street

value of around...

half a million dollars i got here at seven o'clock in the morning so it was

an awesome 16 hour day for being easter sunday i didn't find no easter eggs

that's better than finding easter eggs definitely a better feeling

Operating 15 hours a day, the Eagle Pass International Bridge is used by

thousands of travelers daily.

Officers here rely on years of experience to sniff out any wrongdoing.

Today,

The contents of one traveler's car are causing a stink.

You got a knife? You want to chop the one in half?

To see what's inside?

The cooler is loaded with Mexican cheese.

They're coming from Guadalajara. That's a long way to stay frozen.

Agricultural specialist Villa Real is assigned to investigate.

The amount of cheese that he's got here is not normal for what would be two

people coming back from Mexico.

We're looking at right here, maybe about 20 kilos.

While most of these goods can be crossed in small amounts, this quantity is

likely for a business, which requires a permit and is liable for import duty.

Officers suspect these men are making the 2,000-mile trip to try to sneak the

goods through.

without paying the correct taxes.

That screams like it's a business.

So I wanted to see the crossings, see if they've ever been hit with anything,

either of those two guys.

But as officers carry out background checks on the men,

they think they may have stumbled onto something far more serious than a

commercial import of cheese.

Like it's almost a year?

Yeah, it does, but what I'm seeing is the hair color is different.

The men are making their road trip with a young baby whose appearance doesn't

seem to match their entry documents.

They might be using another baby.

Concern they may have come across a child trafficking attempt.

Officers must act fast.

Perfect for your trip to Canada.

Okay. All right. Where are the rest of the girls?

It's a busy day at the U.S.-Canada border, and Officer Novak is dealing

with a traveler stopped after being spotted driving in the wrong lane.

This car got sent in for further inspection. He's going to secondary.

So we got a couple officers to search the car, make sure nothing is coming in.

He used the trusted traveler lane without having the nexus card, so that's

a no-no.

The trusted traveler lane requires specific pre-approved paperwork, which

this man doesn't have.

And the search of his car uncovers something else concerning.

Ford driver's licenses.

It's the same photo, same name.

They're all valid until the same date, but they're all issued on different

days. So it's just, it's a little weird. So I definitely want to find out what's

going on with this.

I'm gonna go in there talk to him just kind of figure out his story why he has

these because this is even him It's just a little fishy All right, we're looking

through your car what's going on with these IDs or the same one same name same

person They're in the wallet in the center there Your friend's brother,

so why do you have his ID?

You don't know It's his car this is the Brother of the friend that you're

picking up from the airport?

Yes.

You know why he has four of the same exact IDs?

No idea.

So you just know the guy you're picking up. You don't know this guy?

No.

Fake driver's licenses make up almost 10% of all forged IDs.

And Officer Novak is unconvinced by the man's story.

All right, man, just have a seat. I'll call you back up in a bit.

And is concerned.

The man may be trading in false identification.

We just want to make sure these aren't fake IDs, like handing them out or

selling them to people that might want to be trying to hide something if they

try to come to the U.S.

They'll hide their identity and get across.

We've got to do some more digging around to find out.

at the Eagle Pass International Bridge.

Agricultural specialist Di Rial has stopped two men traveling with a baby.

In the process of investigating them for carrying excess food, he believes he may

have stumbled upon a child trafficking attempt.

We're going to have whoever's claiming to be the father take them inside, and

we're going to do a little more investigation on the baby.

Hair color seems to be a little different. Age isn't matching up all

that perfectly.

With 28% of the victims of people trafficking being children, it's vital

officers ascertain whether the man is really the baby's father or if he's

using his actual daughter's paperwork to smuggle a different child across the

border.

The man is led away to be questioned, but officers immediately notice some

strange behavior.

The way they're transporting the baby, walking with the carriage backwards and

stuff like that, that just doesn't seem normal or a fatherly behavior.

I know as a father myself, I want the baby in front of me because I want to

see what's happening to the baby.

So walking with them like it's luggage, he's not doing himself any favors.

The case

is passed to Officer Pond, who will carry out an interview.

They've been avoiding the baby.

They're not really paying attention to the baby.

There's a possibility that the baby might be false claiming.

that that's the same baby and it's someone else's baby.

Officer Pond will check all of the man's paperwork and even examine his phone.

The dad is presenting a birth certificate for the baby.

He's stating that he's the father of the baby, and we're questioning, okay, well,

history, like when was the last time he traveled with the baby, where do they

live, the purpose of their travel to Mexico.

If any further discrepancies are uncovered,

The man could be in big trouble.

At the Detroit-Windsor tunnel.

What's going on with these IDs?

Four of the same ones, same name, same person.

A man traveling into the U.S. has raised suspicions after being found with

multiple driver's licenses, all in someone else's name.

He doesn't need these with him? He just left them in the car?

He's in India right now.

The man claims he's picking up a friend from the airport, and the car and ID

cards belong to the friend's brother.

One fake driver's license like this could sell for a minimum of $100.

So officers need to be certain he's not selling fake IDs.

Despite

the

man's explanation, Officer Novak still needs to verify the details.

All right, man, just have a seat for now. I'll call you back up in a second,

all right?

He runs the IDs through the system to ensure they are authentic and carries

out background checks on both men.

See if this guy has any issues. And then if it turns out anything, we could also

do, like, a phone search.

And the driver appears to be telling the truth.

The check comes back clean, and the different cards are indeed for different

Canadian vehicle licenses.

The G1 is kind of like a learner's permit. You can drive on any type of G

vehicle. That's Canadian classification.

And then this one, the Z, is for truck.

It makes sense why he's got multiple amounts for different classifications.

I'm good with it.

All right, man, come on up. We'll give the orange paper to the officers

outside.

Have a good one.

Satisfied the man is doing nothing wrong.

He's free to go.

I was comfortable knowing that he wasn't using it for malicious intent. He wasn't

going to be handing them out to his buddies for fake IDs or using them for

somebody else to get into the U.S.

That's what I love about this job is the deep dive. When you get stuff like that

where you get to dive deeper and do some research, it's fun. It makes the day

interesting. My last hour, too. I get to go home now.

In Eagle Pass, officers are investigating a man who they

suspect of using his actual daughter's papers to smuggle a different child

across the border.

There's a possibility that the baby might be false, claiming that that's the

same baby and it's someone else's baby.

Officer Pond has now carried out a detailed interview and checked the man's

documents.

He was willing to show us more documentation on it, and we went forward

with that. So he was released with the baby.

With officers satisfied that the baby girl is in fact his, the man faces no

further questions.

It's very dangerous out there. We see it a lot. That's why it's very important

for us to make sure that.

This baby that's traveling with this adult, there's some type of relation

between them for the child safety.

With child smuggling ruled out, officers still have to deal with the excessive

quantities of food the men have tried to bring over from Mexico.

This time, the men escape with just a warning.

But at the border, officers must remain on high alert for every possibility.

Human trafficking, especially with young children like that, these kinds of

things are happening in the United States.

Most people don't believe that it's happening, but we need to stop every

possibility, never count out the fact that someone else could be doing

something so terrible.

Every year, 1.2 million Americans travel to Mexico to undergo heavily

discounted medical procedures.

What are you all bringing back?

Nothing. Okay.

No kind of medications, alcohol, tobacco?

No. Travelers who have treatment often require prescription medication, but

like all medicines, Failing to declare it upon reentry is a crime.

Do you have any medication?

No, ma'am.

People need to understand that whenever anybody fails to declare medication,

you're already breaking the rules.

Why? Because it's a port of entry. You're coming from a foreign country,

entering back into the United States, therefore you need to declare. If you

don't declare, at that moment they're smuggling in.

Thank you. No problem.

It's midday.

at the Progreso International Bridge.

A brother and sister returning to the U.S. from Mexico have been taken for

questioning after loose medication was found in their car.

Officer Maureen leads the search.

And during the inspection, the officer found some undeclared medication.

They also started admitting that they had some on their person, and they

started pulling it out. So in that moment, we take them in so there could

be a pat-down conducted on both individuals.

After finding packets of Xanax and Valium in the couple's car, officers

discover two bottles of Tramadol on their person.

While his sister is searched, the man nervously waits.

During the pat-down, there were two more additional pills within her left pocket

of her short.

All of the pills are controlled substances, which require prescriptions

and should have been declared.

Officer Marine wants to find out why the woman has tried to smuggle this

medication in.

So, you went to Mexico with the purpose of purchasing this?

Well, I had COVID surgery about six weeks ago. I had a long makeover, and so

they have to extract the fluid from my incision.

I have to come down here literally every week.

Have y'all ever had trouble with the wall?

Just petty theft, but Texas, they turn them into felonies if you have them on.

Smuggling a controlled substance is a crime punishable with up to five years

in prison.

Sensing the trouble they are in, the sister attempts to cut a deal.

I just don't want him to get in trouble.

So if he's going to get in trouble, then I'm going to take it so that I can get

in trouble. Or how about if y'all both get in trouble because y'all are both

bringing medication?

No, me only.

You don't make the decision.

the Juarez Lincoln Bridge in Laredo.

On a typical

day, officers here carry out ID checks on over 70,000 travelers who are

attempting to enter the U.S.

This allows officers to quickly ascertain if any travelers are wanted

criminals.

We have, like, within a matter of minutes to make decisions and ask faster

questions together with ones that we need just to confirm what our system

shows. It's a fast pace here, and it's fun. It's always interesting.

It's early evening, and a young man has been detained.

Checks on his car license plate have flagged that the driver is wanted by

police.

Records show there is a warrant out for theft.

Officer Beltran takes the man's fingerprint, which should confirm if

he's the person they're looking for.

But there's an unexpected issue.

Although the detainee looks identical to the police mugshot of the wanted man,

his fingerprints aren't a match.

The officers are perplexed.

Since the man is not carrying any ID, they are reluctant to release him until

they solve the mystery.

Because he doesn't really have any sort of identification, so I was trying to

figure out if it is him or not, so we took his fingerprints and everything,

and it came out that he is not wanted, which is weird, and we were trying to

figure out why.

And this bag is just what, that medication you said? All right.

190 miles away at the Progreso Bridge, Officer Maureen is dealing with two

siblings who attempted to smuggle prescription medication over the border.

Officers have found multiple prescription drugs.

including Xanax, Valium, and Tramadol.

The woman is now attempting to get her brother off any potential charges by

claiming they all belong to her.

I just don't want him to get in trouble.

You don't make the decision.

I have a criminal record.

It's me.

It's me. All right.

I need the medication because I'm in pain.

I'm in a lot of pain. And I actually have prescriptions for these

medications. Do you have a youth prescription?

Travelers can carry 90 days worth of prescription medication, providing they

have valid documentation.

Attempting to transport pills undeclared can lead to heavy fines or even jail.

The woman is desperate to see her brother avoid such a fate.

There's something that you said that caught me where you're like, I'll take

the blame.

All right.

That's true love right there.

Well, that's my brother.

That's your love right there. Are you older than him?

Yes. Okay.

Satisfied with the woman's story, Officer Maureen accepts her plea to take

the rap.

So the only one who's getting in trouble in this moment is going to be you.

Did the officer tell you what might happen?

In total, the woman attempted to

smuggle nearly 14 grams of Valium and Tramadol and over 15 grams of Xanax.

While her brother is released, a decision on whether she will be

prosecuted or fined rests with state police.

It's not like I'm just doing, you know, illegal stuff out here. No, no, no, no,

no. That's not how it is. Right. And in fact, I haven't been in any trouble in

six, seven, eight years.

That's good. So try to keep it like that, all right? Yeah, I won't ever do

it again. This trigger will not happen again.

Just declare whatever you're just declaring?

Yeah, it's easy just to declare it. I mean, if they take it from you, they

take it from you.

And you're going to come back next week.

And you come next week, are you still going to do it?

I'll declare it. I'm going to declare it. You declare it. You see that little

smile? You say it out of reason. I can see straight through your eyes. I'm

going to declare it. That's what I'm going to do.

But for this woman, all future crossings are on hold.

State police decide to prosecute, and state troopers soon arrive to take her

to jail.

We see this daily. We see this a lot.

She was...

You know, at first kind of like, oh, it's something minor, it's something

small. It's something small compared to what I've done in the past. I'll just

come next week.

So what does that tell us? And you're taking it as a joke.

These are serious charges because that's having possession of a controlled

substance.

In Laredo, Officer

Beltran is investigating a man stopped at the border who they suspect is wanted

for theft.

Despite the detainee looking exactly like the police mugshot of the criminal,

his fingerprints aren't a match.

We took his fingerprints and everything, and it came out that he is not wanted,

which is weird. And we were trying to figure out why.

The officers dig a little deeper.

And finally, unravel the mystery.

From the police file, there is only one difference between the set of twins.

The wanted brother has a small mole on his nose.

With the smallest details spotted on the police mugshot, there's no denying they

have the wrong brother.

Yeah, it's his twin. You're an investigator, my boy.

That's right.

We solved the mystery.

He has a twin brother.

Yeah.

He has a twin brother. His brother is the one that is wanted, not him.

It's not him.

It's his twin.

We're going to put it all in the system just to make sure that for next time, in

case he crosses again, they know that it's not him and it's his twin brother.

We're just going to release him, let him go about his day, put everything in the

system, and hopefully next time when his twin does cross, the one that we are

looking for, we'll get the right one.

That's pretty much it.

Close it up.

After an hour wait, And with the mystery solved, the innocent brother is free to

leave.

The twins are done, the mystery.

So now we'll see when the right one crosses. I guess he was the left one.