02x04 - Endangered and Smuggled

[bunniefuu]

WOMAN [ON LOUDSPEAKER]:
Welcome to the Hartsfield-Jackson

Atlanta International Airport.

MAINOR:
We're looking through the LOBs,

the leftover bags

that passengers left out there
for whatever reason.

When passengers leave bags,
we got to go through them,

make sure there's nothing ill*gal.

AMADOR: Depending on the day,
you can get about 30, 40 LOBs.

They're the people that are in a hurry,

and they think they're going
to miss the flight,

and they'd rather leave the bag behind

or, the reason we check,

the person might not want
to get caught bringing something

and leave the bag behind.

MAINOR: When I go through the bags,
I try and be methodical.

I try not to overlook anything.

And coffee beans.

Can't really see inside it.

I'm going to have to cut it open.

Got a coffee smell,
but we'll see what we got.

Well, coffee is supposed to be...

brown, right?

MAINOR: Coffee is not supposed
to be white.

Now we just cut open the rest and see.

And again.

Oh wow. Okay.

Try not to get too high or too low
because you know you got to test it,

but when you start seeing the same thing,

you're like, "Oh, okay.
That's not the normal."

- SMILEY: No, he didn't.
- PALAMBO: Oh yes, he did.

SMILEY: So, this was inside the coffee?

- MAINOR: Mm-hmm.
- SMILEY: Got you.

So, do they look like
commercially packaged?

MAINOR: Yeah, it looked legit
'cause see how it's stitched?

Sometimes you just can't skip steps.

It's that simple. It's that easy.

So, now we're going to test it
and see what we have.

SMILEY: What do you think?

SMILEY: Oh.

It's high. There you go.

MAINOR: It's reading
cocaine hydrochloride.

So... that's cocaine.

It's just straight cocaine.

No mixture, no nothing else
so, you know, it's a good day.

SMILEY: Nice catch.

MAINOR: 3.51 kilos.

MAN: Yeah, that's a lot.

SMILEY: Since I've been here,
this is one of the largest ones we've had.

That's over a year and a half.

WHITE: Flight's gone. Flight's gone.

MAINOR: Have HSI been called?

WHITE: I'm getting ready to call HSI.

I got to get the information off the tag.

- MAINOR: Okay.
- WHITE: The person that owns this bag

is on a flight to Dallas/Fort Worth,

so we're going to call HSI,

and they will intercept the gentleman

and bring him in for further questioning.

He came in, uh, from Montego Bay.

Okay.

There's another flight from Montego Bay

that should be arriving
within about 20 minutes,

so we'll search everyone on the flight

because this may be a test run.

They may have another person
trying to smuggle narcotics

in the same manner.

And now let me go find
some people to search.

[INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT
ON PA SYSTEM]

GARCIA: So, fresh fruit's not allowed.

POWELL: I'm looking at a box of basil.

We have to check every box

and make sure they're free
from pests and diseases.

As an agricultural specialist,

basically any fruits
and vegetables or plants,

we make sure that it's safe
to enter the country.

Now, I'm already finding
these insect pests,

so we're not going to allow it in.

In Miami, we have about 80 people in cargo

and another 80 people in passenger,

so we're busy,

very busy.

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

POWELL: You have a live one.

POWELL: Looks like a beetle.

We regulate animal products
and wildlife animals

or exotic animals.

PEREZ: We've got a scorpion here
from El Salvador.

PIZARRO: We try to prevent any
diseases,

any invasive pests
from coming to the States.

We also have people
that bring in live animals to sell.

GRAHAM: These dogs
are coming in from Korea.

I'm thinking these are being
brought in to be sold.

- Hey, buddy, I hear you.
- [DOG WHIMPERING]

You could make a lot of money
on this, lots of money.

PIZARRO: We do get a lot
of people that bring dogs.

Usually, everything is legitimate,

but we're always alert
for possible smugglers

of live animals.

PIZARRO: Where are you coming from
today?

- MAN: Cayman Islands.
- PIZARRO: Cayman Islands.

- MAN: Yeah.
- Okay, and where you going to?

- MAN: I'm going to Canada.
- PIZARRO: Canada.

Okay, let me see
all the paperwork for the dog.

MAN: I was working down
in Cayman Islands fostering dogs,

and this one won my heart,
so this one is mine now.

PIZARRO: Okay, the health
certificate is this one,

and this one is the rabies.

Okay, that's enough.

We regulate the importation of dogs

because we don't have rabies
anymore since 2007,

so now we try to keep it that way.

Perfect.

I need to take a look at the dog,
make sure he's healthy.

Make sure it is the dog that's in here.

[LAUGHS]
You never know.

The dog was healthy.

He's not drooling or have
any sign that he's sick.

He looks tired, of course, so...

I mean, who likes to travel
in the belly of the plane, right?

Without AC.
Well, it has AC, but, no, it's hot.

Do you have any dog food in your bags?

- MAN: I don't.
- PIZARRO: You don't.

What about in your backpack? No.

MAN: He's going to get a good lunch
today.

PIZARRO: Cool. Okay.

I love animals, so it is important
for me to make sure

they're going to good hands
and that they're healthy.

Thank you. You're all set.
Have a good one, okay.

Take care.

Some people do harm animals,

so I'm just here to make sure
everything is correct.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

JOHN: Alright, guys.

Tonight, we're going
to be doing an arrest warrant

on a JFK airport employee.

This case started a few months back.

There was a flight from Jamaica
arriving at JFK.

After the passengers departed,

CBP discovered a leftover bag

that was never claimed by a passenger.

There was a specific marking on the bag,

a purple bandana.

This bag contained approximately


During the course of the investigation,

looking through surveillance footage,

we discovered an airport employee

digging around, searching for the bag,

but he didn't see it.

At the same time, he is on the phone

with an individual in Jamaica, the source,

to get a description of the bag,

but the purple bandana is on
the bottom of the bag face down

as it passes him on the luggage belt,

so he missed it.

So, today we got an arrest warrant.

This is just a description of our target.

You're not going to miss him.
He's a heavyset individual.



Frank is already out on surveillance.

We're going to meet up with him
in Ozone Park,

where the target lives.

We're going to look to do this
on his way into work.

He usually leaves
his residence around 5:00.

The plan is to do a vehicle stop
after he leaves his residence,

two to three blocks away.

He typically takes an Uber,

so we shouldn't have to be worrying
about the car fleeing.

Wear a vest, street clothes,
badge out, alright.

[INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT
ON PA SYSTEM]

MAN: You can't bring that, right?

PIZARRO: Sir, next.

[SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

[SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

PIZARRO: Okay.

[PIZARRO SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

[MAN SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

PIZARRO: Passenger's bringing in
two bird cages.

We've been having a lot of passengers

smuggling birds from Cuba,

so when we encounter a passenger
that have bird cages,

we tend to do a more intensive interview

in regards of what was
the purpose of the cages?

Why are they bringing the bird cage?

- [PIZARRO SPEAKING IN SPANISH]
- [MAN SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

PIZARRO: Okay.

[PIZARRO SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

When he removed the bag
from on top of him,

I noticed like a bulge in his groin area.

[PIZARRO SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

So, CBP officers
are conducting the pat down.

They're going to check
underneath his clothing

to make sure what is the bulge
that we see in his groin area.

MURPHY: So, we found
a total of four birds.

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

PIZARRO: And then the other one
was in his groin.

PIZARRO: Oh, okay.

Smuggling of exotic animals is ill*gal.

It could be contaminating,
it could be contagious.

PIZARRO: He can get some jail time.

[PIZARRO SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

- [SPEAKING IN SPANISH]
- PIZARRO: Uh-huh.

[SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

[SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

- [MAN SPEAKING IN SPANISH]
- [PIZARRO SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

[MAN SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

[PIZARRO SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

[MAN SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

Since the birds could be contagious,

it could have any type of disease,

so we're going to take the birds
to a quarantine room.

We're going to segregate it
and then put them in the crates

and give them food and water.

Hopefully one of them is not dead.

WHITE:
The flight that you see here

is a flight from Montego Bay, Jamaica.

MAN: Ladies and gentlemen,
we're conducting operations.

Please stay on the right side.

WHITE: Let's go this way.
You see this officer here.

We are doing what we call a blitz.

We're searching everyone's bags
either by hand or by x-ray

to see if we can find any contraband

that may be associated
with the last individual

that left a bag, you know,
loaded with cocaine.

Coffee from Jamaica is common.
People bring a lot of it.

Of course, it's easy
to conceal narcotics in there also.

- So, how was Jamaica?
- MAN: Amazing.

Was it nice?

Smugglers come in every size and color.

There's no specific gender
or country, it's just...

it's just smugglers.

Just got to find them.

- What you got here, man?
- Rock?

Jamaican rocks.

AMADOR: A lot of times
from that initial few questions,

you'll know if there
could be a possibility

of finding something or not.

Let me get your passport
real quick, ma'am.

Passport.

What are you going to do in Indiana?

You a citizen or...

AMADOR: She's what?

AMADOR: Citizen.

What do you do?

What do you do for a living?

AMADOR: A student?

Let's go ahead and go
through your bags real quick.

Everything is yours in the bag?

AMADOR: Okay.

So, you're staying three weeks, right?

[UNZIPPING LUGGAGE]

Just go ahead and stop the phone here.

You cannot use the phone, okay.

- MAINOR: Huh?
- AMADOR: Favorite coffee.

[CHUCKLES]

[PAPER RUSTLING]

AMADOR: Let me go ahead and open it.

Coffee's clean.

Tell you what. Let's go ahead
and start packing.

I'll bring this back for you, okay.

It happens every day
where you think you have it,

you think you might find it,

and it's... it's a negative search.

You don't win them all.

For us, it's just a matter
of looking and finding.

If you're not looking, you're not finding.

It's just the way it is.

Let's see what happens with Kingston.

JOHN: Yeah, I got you at 5:00,
right, 5:00.

We're a few minutes out.

Do you know what time
he swiped in last night or no?

Alright, that's good. Alright. Good job.

He worked last night. Swiped in at 5:30.

Swiped out at 7:00 a.m.,

so he picked a lot of overtime up,

but hopefully he's working tonight.

- SWEENEY: Ready to go?
- JOHN: Yeah.

JOHN: We're on the block
of the target's residence.

His address is right up ahead
here on the left.

You guys set up?

All right, good.

Be advised, guys,
typically he leaves by 5:00,

so if his pattern continues,

we're 20 minutes away
from him exiting the residence.

JOHN: Stopping?

JOHN: Be advised, guys,
we have an Uber

that's pulling up right in front
of the target residence.

JOHN: He just took something
out of the trunk.

JOHN: Yeah.

JOHN: Disregard.

Completely unrelated to what we're doing.

SPECIAL AGENT: Copy.

JOHN: The latest he leaves
his house has been 5:30,

so we still have some time.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

PIZARRO: Yes.

We're here in the bird room.
It's a quarantine area.

Fish and Wildlife are going
to remove the birds

from the containers.

We work alongside the experts,
which is Fish and Wildlife,

so every time that we encounter
passengers smuggling animals,

we actually call them.

PIZARRO: When you bring birds
into the States from Cuba,

we have to have them in quarantine

because we don't know
the disease status of the country.

So, if they are sick, we could
get contaminated with a disease.

Are they all alive?

PIZARRO: Oh no.

- PIZARRO: Oh, there you go.
- [CHIRPING]

PIZARRO: Oh Lord.

[CHIRPING]

It's a very famous bird in Cuba.

This bird can go
from $1,000 to $5,000 each.

[CHIRPING]

PIZARRO: There's actually a ring

that bring this type of bird
into the country.

This is a business.

The other three birds are fine,
but one specific bird,

we are a little bit concerned about.

[CHIRPING]

PIZARRO: The other three birds are fine,

but one specific bird, we are
a little bit concerned about.

PIZARRO: Oh no.

Oh, the poor thing.

Now veterinary services are going
to take custody of the birds.

The passenger is not going
to see the birds ever again.

That's for sure.

Smuggle, yes, for sure.

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

Bye. Bye.

He has smuggled before.

He smuggled 16 birds in 2012.

Passenger has stated
that it's for personal use,

but he obviously brought it before,

so this is all monetary,
you know, it's all about money.

So, we're going to go ahead
and interview the passenger.

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

- [MAN SPEAKING SPANISH]
- [PIZARRO SPEAKING SPANISH]

- [SPEAKING SPANISH]
- [PIZARRO SPEAKING SPANISH]

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

[PIZARRO SPEAKING SPANISH]

- [MAN SPEAKING SPANISH]
- [SPEAKING SPANISH]

- [SPEAKING SPANISH]
- PIZARRO: Uh-huh.

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

[MAN SPEAKING SPANISH]

- [SPEAKING SPANISH]
- [SPEAKING SPANISH]

SPECIAL AGENT:
[SPEAKING SPANISH]

PIZARRO: It is surprising and sad
because he's an 81-year-old man,

but, you know, the law is the law.
It doesn't... it doesn't think about age.

PIZARRO: Everything that we gathered
today is very important

because passengers smuggling birds
has been happening

everywhere in the country,
not only here in Miami.

We know, based on communication
from other ports,

they do smuggle...

a type of finch for singing competition.

It's something
that is constantly happening,

and we are always on the lookout

to make sure they're not bringing
any ill*gal wildlife into our country.

JOHN: Still no activity
at the target residence.

JOHN: As of now, it's, uh, 5:26.

If he's not out of his residence at 5:30,

he's most likely
not going in to work tonight,

at which point we'll reassess
and, uh, and do it tomorrow.

All right, individual's coming
out of the target residence.

Black T-shirt, gray shorts,

white socks, flip-flops, black hat.

Now walking down the block,
left-hand side of the street.

Looks smaller than our guy, no?

JOHN: Not our target,
but individual came out of the...

out of the residence.

Uber.

All right, a red Nissan Rogue
just pulled up

in front of the target residence.

SWEENEY: Oh, it's him.

JOHN: All right. Our target
is exiting the residence.

He's getting into the Uber.

The rear driver side door.

All right. He's pulling off.

We're going to take him
a block or two away.

JOHN: We're right behind him.

JOHN: He's coming up
to the end of the block.

We're going to let him make the left turn,

and we're gonna take him
right after he makes the turn.

JOHN: All right,
we're going to take it down.

[SIREN WAILING]

SWEENEY: Police. Turn off the car.

Put the keys on the dashboard.

[SIREN WAILING]

JOHN: All right.
We're going to take it down.

[SIREN WAILING]

SWEENEY: Police. Turn off the car.

Put the keys on the dashboard.
Out of the car.

JOHN: Relax. Relax.

We'll explain what's going on, okay.

[SIREN WAILING]

JOHN: Today was a successful day.

Even though we were waiting
in the car for almost two hours,

we effectively made the arrest.

He didn't resist at all. He was compliant.

OFFICER: You're good to go. Sorry.

OFFICER: I hope he tipped you.

JOHN: I don't think
that could've went any smoother.

SWEENEY: Yeah, it was great.

He was arrested safely,
and we're all safe.

That's all that matters.

JOHN: So, now two agents behind us
are transporting the subject.

We're going to go back
to JFK to our office,

at which point we'll debrief him.

We'll do a full interview.

Hopefully, he's, uh, willing
to play some ball and... and talk.

SMILEY: Stay in line, stick to your right.

MORALES: We have officers working

in passengers' environment
processing passengers,

and we are going to the jetway

toward the interior of the aircraft.

MORALES: We always check
the galleys, restrooms,

and some areas in the c*ck.

The floor looks all dusty.
I don't see any footprints.

AMADOR: There was a few times
they did find narcotics

in the avionics
on the bottom of the plane.

It's a good space in there

where you can put quite
a few kilos actually of cocaine

or whatever the case might be.

All right. Clear.

MORALES: Now we are going
to x-ray the bags

coming off the flight.

While the bags are coming
out the x-ray machine,

I'm looking for anomalies.

We know most of the narcotics,
it's organic material,

so we look for places
that the organic stuff

is not common to be seen.

I got a couple seconds
just to make a determination.

If it doesn't look too right,
then we will check additionally.

STEPHENS: Oh, that's coffee, yeah.

MORALES: This one bag looked like

it has a couple coffee bags.

But the way it's shaped,
it's kind of hard to tell right now.

Could be coffee.
Could be something else.

It will definitely be a good one to check.

MORALES: Well, we did
a pretty good search,

but this flight in particular,
there's over 120 bags,

so the rest is going to go
inside the airport

for the passengers to claim
while we inspect them.

MCINTYRE: Any food, alcohol,
or tobacco in your bags, ma'am?

MCINTYRE: No foods?

WATTS: You have family in Jamaica?

WATTS: Just friends?

Anybody give you anything to bring here?

- No.
- Okay, perfect.

Thank you. Have a good one.

We're just going to do
a quick bag exam on you today.

MILLS: Officer Murphy and I,
we started the bag exam,

and her main checked luggage
was wrapped in cellophane.

Usually, that's with a bag
that would be heavy,

and really the bag wasn't that heavy.

How long were you in Jamaica?

MURPHY: Eight days?

Once we opened the bag,
we realized she was awfully nervous.

Especially when we noticed
the coffee bags in there,

she became even more visibly nervous.

Just everything she was exhibiting

showed something wasn't right.

MURPHY: Officer Mills, cocaine.

SPECIAL AGENT: Come with me.

MILLS: Female passenger
came downstairs.

She had two bags with her.

Officer Murphy and I,
we started the bag exam,

and her main checked luggage
was wrapped in cellophane.

MURPHY: It was three separate
coffee bags inside the suitcase.

We told her we were going
to open up one of the bags,

and as soon as we cut the bag open,

a white powdery substance
came out of the bag.

We want to test it out.

[MACHINE WHIRRING]

[WHIRRING STOPS]

MURPHY: Positive for cocaine.

It's a trend we're starting
to see here a lot in Atlanta.

It came from the same country.

They were going to different locations
in the United States,

but they showed up from the same flight.

You want to weigh it?

1.52 kilograms.
A little over three pounds.

We'll finish all our paperwork,

and then she'll be turned over to HSI

for federal prosecution.

You have to really do your job
when inspecting this kind of luggage

'cause you wouldn't think
three coffee bags,

oh, it's much, but three coffee bags
could do a lot of damage

to this country if this was distributed.

POWELL: Smells like seafood.

HERNANDEZ: I looked at that.
These are live lobsters.

POWELL: One way we inspect,

we randomly walk through a warehouse,

and we start opening shipments
just to make sure

what we're looking at
is what it says it is.

Smuggled wildlife
is the fourth largest ill*gal trade

in the world.

That's why we have to be here every day,

uh, looking at every shipment
that comes in.

Hey, so, what did you find here?

MOTA: Well, we came across
this shipment.

It's coming from the Caribbean,
and it's going to Asia,

and it's plastic.

POWELL: Why would you ship plastic
one country to another?

That doesn't make any sense.

- What is that?
- It doesn't look like plastic at all.

POWELL: It looks like, uh, turtle shell.

MOTA: It's painted.

POWELL: They're concealing
the turtle shell.

So, this is being smuggled.

These turtle shells are very sought-after
because of the commercial trade.

They make a lot of jewelry
and other things in Asia

with these turtle shells,

so, smugglers, they try
to get these through

because they can make a lot of money.

It looks like 130 kilos of turtle shells,

which is a lot.

I don't think I've ever seen
this many in one shipment.

It's a very large shipment.

ill*gal wildlife trafficking
is a major problem for the population.

This definitely contributes
to the sea turtle decline.

All turtle shells, they're all protected,

so we're going to have
to call Fish and Wildlife,

and they'll decide
if these are endangered species,

'cause these could be a lot
of different species. We don't know.

KEVIN: We're going to go brief inside.

JOHN: We arrested the first guy,

the airport employee
who was supposed to find that bag.

That led us to identify
the other individual

who was in Jamaica
at the time of the seizure,

and he was on the phone
instructing the airport employee

to grab the bag.

We obtained an arrest warrant
for this subject,

and his phone was showing
that he's up in Newburgh, New York.

All right, so, just real quick, all right,

so everybody knows
who we're looking for, right?

Everybody's got the photo?

He's about 43 years old, large male.

So, this is one block
that we're going to set up on.

Our target's hopefully
like over here, alright?

There's a deli right on that corner.

Hopefully we'll see him,
and then we'll grab him.

But more importantly,
safety, safety, safety for real.

This block is super-hot.

There's old-school lookouts.

Everybody's going to know
you're out there.

They're definitely not intimidated
by the police in any way,

but the good thing is nobody knows
who we're looking for.

I'm sure there's a lot of guys
out there that are wanted.

JOHN: Just watch your six
'cause Newburgh is labeled

as the m*rder capital of New York,

so just be careful.

Radio checks
when we get out there, vest, gear.

All right, break.

JOHN: Right here.

- KEVIN: It's that one.
- JOHN: Yeah.

It's that red Jamaican café.

It's right next to the deli on the corner.

He's working there.

That guy looks a lot younger
than that guy.

That guy looks old.

- I don't think it's the guy.
- JOHN: No, wasn't him.

- Oh.
- KEVIN: Ooh.

JOHN: Hey, how about that guy
that just came out

in the black jacket, black hat?

That looks like him, yeah.

- That looks like him.
- KEVIN: Yeah.

JOHN: He went into that,
that Chiquita store.

JOHN: Copy.

That's him, dude, that's our guy.

That-that's our guy.

Couple guys, just make sure you guys...

you're looking around, alright?

You have ID on you?

JOHN: Alright, hang tight.

JOHN: What do you got on you?
Wallet, phone, keys?

JOHN: We were able to identify
the target,

come out of the café right away

and... and arrest him.

Good job, Frankie.

Everybody was safe,
and we got home in one piece.

MAN: We good?

You got it?

PAGES: We're just gonna
wash off this blue chalk.

All sea turtles are protected
under the Endangered Species Act,

so internationally,

there's no commercial trade
allowed of these at all.

The most prized ones for the ill*gal trade

are, uh, hawksbill sea turtle
and green sea turtle.

Like, this one over here
looks to me like a hawksbill.

Yeah, this is a hawksbill.

And then the way this is up like this,

this is gonna lay on top of another scute.

A scute is part of the top shell
of the, uh, of the tortoise.

It's a part of the animal.

The only way you're gonna get this
off an animal is if you k*ll it.

And looking right over here,

it looks like a b*llet hole.

That's not a normal thing
that occurs out in nature,

and, in this case, it was a lot of them.

PAGES: It's extremely crucial to combat
the ill*gal trade in these species

because the money's been linked
to organized crime,

also to, uh, international terrorism.

Also, the fact that most
of these were probably female

because that's the easiest way
to get them,

is when they're laying eggs.

And when you're taking out
a breeding population like that,

you're affecting tens of thousands
of future sea turtles from being born.

MOTA: Wow!

PAGES: The amount is...
this is not normal for us.

We wanna get an overall count

of what comes in these boxes
because it's evidence,

but secondly, this will give us
an approximate number

of how many sea turtles were...

were k*lled during this process.

Sahrain, what do we have?

BAZER: And what's the approximate?

BAZER: Box number 2?

MAN: Box number four has 310 scutes,

and that's approximately 24 sea turtles.

BAZER: The total number
of scutes is 1,423...

so approximately 110 turtles.

This is...

is a... is a large number.

This is... This is huge.

PAGES: This is a horrible situation
that we see, something like this,

but is a win for us when we catch it.

We made a dent in the ill*gal trade
and commerce of endangered species.

From here, we refer it to a special agent

and take it out of the market.

But no one wants to see this, ever.