01x02 - Operation Total Silence

[bunniefuu]

The crossing from the island

of Bimini in the Bahamas

to the US coast

it is only 50 miles.

US Customs and Border Protection

Agents are constantly on the lookout

for small boats carrying contraband

into the United States.

Are you guys still floating?

Yes, sir, my guys are currently

on a vessel entering Port Everglades.

But if you've got something better,

I can pull my guys off.

During a routine stop,

Vessel Commander, Aaron,

receives a call

from the air support plane,

5000 feet above,

that something more important

may require their attention.

We're appearing to have

like a cigarette style vessel,

four engines. It left Bimini

heading straight towards Fort Lauderdale.

You guys see anything suspicious

with the vessel?

It's just weird, it's riding a little low,

- from my view.

- Copy.

Boat riding low in the water

could be an indication

that it's loaded with people or narcotics.

Undated position is 0 1 West.

- Course is 300 at 40 knots.

- Got it.

With the target's position

and course locked into GPS,

the team begins its high-speed intercept.

A thousand miles south east of Florida

is the US territory of Puerto Rico.

On the surface, it's a tropical paradise,

but the island has a sinister underbelly.

It's often used as a staging point

for cocaine traffickers.

From their base in San Juan,

Homeland Security Investigations

is tasked with bringing

the smugglers to justice.

One of our biggest challenges

is anything that comes through water.

Because of our location and our

proximity to the Dominican Republic,

Venezuela and Colombia in the South,

we're used as a trans-shipment point

for drug smuggling.

Good morning all.

So, this briefing is going to be

about the Operation Total Silence.

This morning, the team is

being briefed on a major operation,

codenamed Total Silence.

Its mission:

the arrest of up to 60 members

of a drug-trafficking g*ng.

Overall about this investigation,

we started this in January 2022

and we received information

regarding a DTO operating in Ponce.

We started investigating an organization

that was running

the drug-smuggling business

in five public housing projects

in the Ponce area.

A series of coordinated raids

are scheduled to take place

in the early hours of tomorrow morning.

- Do you have enough personnel?

- Yes, ma'am, we do.

Are they, like, both Federal and State?

Yes, ma'am.

For law enforcement,

the operation is also personal.

The g*ng is believed to be behind

the fatal sh**ting

of one of their agents

and the wounding of two others.

We were able to identify that

they were involved with the sh**ting

of one of our Maritime Interdiction agents

that was k*lled in November 2022.

So, this take-down

obviously is very dear to us.

With the suspects presumed

to be armed and dangerous,

agents have spent months

plotting their every move.

They basically operate by intimidating

and attacking rival members

utilizing extreme violence.

Everything has to be perfect.

We have to make sure

that we don't miss a beat

and when we go in, we wanna do it

consistently and safely.

With the briefing over,

it's time for Operation

Total Silence to begin.

As night falls

on Puerto Rico's east coast

another team of agents

is starting their shift.

Tonight's calm seas and full moon

are perfect conditions for anyone

attempting to smuggle contraband

onto the island.

Eight four seven. Visual, no lights.

And scanning their radar systems,

they've already identified a boat

that looks suspicious.

The speed varied goes to low speed

and then goes back to faster speeds

and that's an indicator it might be

something worth checking into

because these are tactics used

by drug-runners.

Some smugglers believe driving

erratically and at varying speeds

will throw off authority's radar systems,

but this boat has been spotted.

All right, guys.

Everybody's geared up?

All good?

All right, let's hustle. Let's go.

Coming up.

Operating with their lights out,

Victor and his crew head out

to intercept the boat

two miles off shore

making their presence known

only at the last minute.

Captain!

Captain!

But once the vessel is under control,

it quickly becomes obvious

that there may be a less sinister

explanation for its unusual driving.

Hey, what's she doing?

Look, she's hanging off the side.

The girl.

It seems like they've been drinking a lot.

The group appears to be

highly intoxicated.

They claim to have been partying

on a nearby island

and to have lost track of time.

Coming into the spot we were going

to do our investigation at,

they got a couple of buoys

marking shallow water

and they almost ran over one of the buoys,

so it doesn't seem

like they're in the right mindset

for safe navigation.

So, we'll go back to Fort Lauderdale

and conduct it there.

Look, let's go to Puerto Rico.

Is that good?

While rarely enforced,

operating a boat while over

the limit for alcohol is ill*gal.

Concerned for their safety,

agents decide to escort the vessel

back to port.

They've got too many people on that boat,

so for their safety we'll go

to the marina they plan on going to.

While the boaters appear to be guilty

of nothing more than a good time,

there could be more to the story.

We've had encounters in the past

of a big group of people partying,

having a good time

and they have actually been engaged

in smoking activities,

they have lied

on where they've been coming from,

try to cover up

what they were really doing.

The only way to determine

whether these travelers

were involved in a smuggling venture

or just been partying a bit too hard

is to carry out a full inspection.

Meanwhile, just outside the city of Ponce

in Puerto Rico's southern coast,

a major operation, codenamed

Total Silence, is underway.

Specialized teams are preparing to arrest

up to 60 members

of a drug trafficking g*ng

across five different housing projects.

This is one of three staging areas

that we are preparing to depart

to different locations

in order to execute arrest warrants.

We have approximately 150 agents here.

We have 30 special response teams

that came from the United States

plus Puerto Rico

police department agents and HSI,

and FBI and VEA agents.

The tactics going in will be

stealth to contact,

so we try to go in there

as covertly as possible

and then surround

and execute our warrants.

Logistically speaking, it's a nightmare,

although we have

very, very competent guys.

Our motivation is the righteous cause,

to go after these guys. They are

bad guys. They need to be locked up.

God we pray that you protect us

every single minute of this op.

With teams now briefed and prepped,

a convoy heads to the target location.

It's now 10 minutes until they strike.

In Florida

Looks like we've got a visual,

standby for an intercept.

an air support plane

on a routine patrol

has spotted a suspicious vessel

traveling at a high speed from the Bahamas

toward the US coast.

That's your target.

Because it's going 40 knots

and it's low in the water,

agents think the boat

could be loaded with contraband

and have asked their

marine colleagues to intercept.

Good afternoon, Sir. US Customs.

Where are you guys coming from today?

- Bimini. Four.

- How many people on board?

Who's the owner of the vessel?

The route from Bimini in the Bahamas

to the Florida coast

is a well-known smuggling route

for both people and narcotics.

The plane called this target

coming out of Bimini

and we often work with the plane

to find vessels

coming into the United States

and if we deem necessary

when we intercept them

we'll conduct a full inspection

at sea out here.

Agents board the vessel

in order to carry out a search

and question the passengers.

You don't have anything to declare

coming back into the country?

No, we didn't even stop.

They claim to be a family from Maine

on vacation in Florida

and have made a day trip to the Bahamas.

So far,

nothing appears out of the ordinary.

A plane's 5000 feet up,

so maybe the profile of the vessel

or the paint scheme or something like that

made it look like it was sitting

lower than what it is.

While air support moves on

in search of another target

Be advised we don't have eyes

on you any longer.

Copy, sir.

We appreciate your help today.

- We're getting the guys over.

- Copy.

the inspection of this vessel

continues.

Agent Kyle goes through

the passengers' belongings

looking for any sign of contraband

but nothing elicit is found.

This time, it's a false alarm.

And you're clear.

Asked some investigative questions.

Everything seemed normal and cohesive.

Took a look at their passports.

All of them had that and that was it.

Good to go.

With the search complete,

the boat and its crew are released

to continue their journey

to the United States.

The air plane saw that style

of vessel moving at a good speed.

It, kind of, probably heightened

their senses a little bit

and they just pointed it out to us.

I mean, that's how we work this.

We pick boats coming from the Bahamas.

The airplane calls out what they

think might be a good target for us

and then we go out and get it.

One thousand miles to the north,

Port Newark in New Jersey

is the biggest cargo port

on the east coast.

Spanning an area

the size of 150 football fields,

it handles seven million containers

every year,

shipped to and from

all four corners of the globe.

It's the job of Customs

and Boarder Protection

to find anything illicit within them.

You guys ready?

And officers are boarding a vessel

that's just arrived from Spain.

- We need a copy of your crew list.

- Okay.

You have a boson on board?

- We need him to take us around.

- Sure.

We'll need him

to open all the common areas,

- so if he has the keys.

- Okay. Okay.

To combat drug trafficking

and other smuggling activities,

officers inspect

every single container ship

which arrives at the port.

This morning's is led

by Officers Dean and Mike.

We're looking for narcotics,

also stowaways.

They looked for stowaways

at their last port in Spain,

but you don't know if somebody

jumped on in Spain coming here

and it could be anybody.

Okay, we're going to start

on the top deck,

checking all the common areas.

You have the keys for all

the safe rooms and everything?

Whenever you're on a ship, it all depends

on what the information that you have

on how you're going to go

about the search.

This search we're doing this

is, like, a cold search.

There's nothing specific,

but every ship is suspect.

Officers never quite know

what they will find.

Two weeks ago, we had a dead body,

came from another port,

they found him

in a holding area on the ship.

I believe it turned out to be

a dock worker from I think China.

Accidental, but just so big here,

so many people in and out.

Since a ship of this size would be

impossible to search completely,

officers target easily-accessed areas

they know to be hotspots for contraband.

All these common areas, the storage rooms,

this is where they could throw

a duffel bag with narcotics.

Somebody take it off the ship later

when they go for shore leave.

They're looking for what's known

as whip-loads,

small shipments

of up to 20 kilos of narcotics

that can be quickly removed

when the ship docs.

What's to stop somebody taking that

out and putting in five kilos?

All these spots are quick easy concealment

if they wanted to put something

in one of these fire boxes

for somebody to come on, open this up

and then off the ship again.

You gotta watch out for the dock workers.

You know, it's all set up.

As well as drugs,

officers are on the lookout

for ill*gal immigrants

who may be hiding on the ship

hoping to make it to the United States.

All around the whole ship,

you have compartments like this.

People, they could camp out in here

if you're a stowaway and they hide.

They know just where to go.

The farther down, the better for them.

The cargo itself is the hardest to search.

Ninety-five percent of all goods

purchased in the United States

arrive by sea

and there are over 4000 containers

on this ship alone.

On the deck, officers select one

for a spot check.

With this type of opening,

we're looking for a quick whipload

and if it were to be in here,

it would be carefully planned out

in a duffel bag

right when you open up the door usually

or something for a quick retrieval

and they go.

Structure looks good, no modifications.

We're looking

at the little empty area here

to see if there's any duffel bags,

any type of whiploads. Check is good.

There's no sign of a whipload

in this container.

Officer Mike also opens a box

to check that its contents are legitimate.

It looks like it's pasta.

This container's good.

As a record and to prevent any tampering,

the container is locked

with a numbered seal.

We try to check every area

which is accessible to the crew.

Also we checked one of the containers

to check for whiploads

inside the container.

Everything checked out so far.

There's no discrepancies found

on this ship today, thankfully.

A day that we don't find something

is a good day,

but it's also a bad day

because we know it's out there.

In Fort Lauderdale

a team of marine agents

patrolling the Florida coastline

is returning to port to refuel.

That's good.

- You wanna fuel up?

- Yeah.

But while fueling up their vessel,

Agent Todd spots

something suspicious just along the dock.

How are we doing, sir?

How's everything?

- Good this time. Yeah.

- Good this time?

What's caught Todd's eye is

the two large fuel drums

on board this man's boat.

He's got a couple

of 55 gallon drums on the deck,

sometimes can be used

for holding extra fuel,

which is an indicator

they're trying to go long distance.

If you're just here, why do you need

a bunch of extra fuel?

Long-distance travel

in a vessel this small is unusual

and could indicate that this

boat owner is involved in smuggling.

And there is something else

that's ringing alarm bells.

- I already smell weed.

- Yes.

- Lots of it.

- Yeah.

While legal in much of the United States,

cannabis remains

a controlled substance in Florida.

- Is it just you today?

- No.

The other guy, they brought

the trailer back to the boatyard.

- Going to shut the trailer down.

- Okay. All right.

Listen, I'm not gonna lie,

I smell weed on your boat.

- No.

- Yeah.

- This is not the boat. Take a look.

- Okay.

- Any weapons on the boat, sir?

- No.

- Can I look around the boat?

- Yeah, man.

All right. Thank you.

Suspecting this traveler

is concealing cannabis,

agents conduct a search.

While Kyle opens

the many boxes on the deck,

Todd concentrates on the cabin.

We got a big whiff of weed

when we first walked up, so

He said he didn't have anything on him.

I'm still getting a whiff.

Most of the boxes are

full of food and boat parts.

And the extra fuel drums

are currently empty.

- Have you got your ID and everything?

- Yeah.

These fuel drums won't do you

any good with no fuel in them.

- That's why we are here.

- Great having you here.

Yeah, we are going to buy fuel here.

- Where are you headed to?

- Jamaica.

- Jamaica?

- Yeah.

How long is it gonna take you

to get to Jamaica?

- Five days at the most. Yeah.

- That's a long haul, man.

That's why we're stopping.

The man is local to Florida

and claims he needs the extra fuel

because he's planning to island hop

all the way to Jamaica,

a journey of over 900 miles.

Hopefully, the weather's nice for you.

Although it's not a typical itinerary

for a vessel of this size,

agents have not found any weed

or other contraband.

- You fellows have a safe journey.

- No problem.

The man and his companion

are free to continue their journey.

Thank you. Safe travels, guys.

One thousand miles away

on the south coast of Puerto Rico.

We're about five mikes,

a little bit less than five mikes

from the location.

It's 3:00 a.m.,

and several tactical response teams

are minutes away from the city of Ponce

where they plan to arrest up to 60 members

of a drug trafficking organization.

I'm a little bit anxious.

Besides trafficking controlled substances,

they're responsible also

for several murders here

on the south side of the island,

but once it's done and everybody's safe,

I think we're good to go.

We're about one mike from the location.

This operation is the result

of two years work

and has a special significance

for law enforcement across Puerto Rico.

Some of the agents are also part

of another investigation.

That's called Sentinel

where a marine enforcement agent from CDP

was shot and k*lled

by members of this organization.

And five of the six subjects,

they will be arrested today.

Make a right here and we're done.

Leading the unit at one of five

public housing projects, or PHPs,

where the arrests are due to take place

The thing with this PHP is

it's very uncomfortable,

one entrance, one exit.

careful not to alert

any of the suspects,

the arrest team moves into position.

Police! Unlock the door! Police!

A flash-bang is detonated

to signal that the raid is on.

They're going in.

Open, open, open!

Open, open, open!

Open the door! Come out

with your hands up! Hold the dogs!

Come out with your hands up!

Within minutes,

the highly coordinated raid

across five sites is over

but not everything has gone

according to plan.

One of the targets that was supposed

to be on one of the buildings

that we just passed by, he's not there.

His mom is there. She's arrested.

Now, let me ask you.

Will she tell us where her son is?

Yes, she knows where he is sleeping.

She doesn't know the number,

but she can take us there.

One of the team's most

high profile targets is missing.

If he's not arrested soon,

he could easily escape

but intel could lead

straight to him.

She says he's staying with a girlfriend

in another apartment.

The mother of the target

is going to go with an agent

to identify the apartment

where her son is located,

the other target we're looking for.

Right here?

Thanks to a tip-off

from the suspect's mother,

officers head to another apartment

within the same housing project.

Police!

Police!

With its miles of coastline

and proximity to the Caribbean,

Florida has long been

an entry point for immigrants

hoping to build a new life in America.

While many arrive lawfully,

the state is also home

to an estimated

700,000 undocumented migrants.

We cover a very, very large population.

Florida is a vacuum for agricultural work,

construction work, so we're busy.

Most of the migrants arrive by boat,

hoping to circumvent border checks.

Geographically, we have the Bahamas,

we have Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba.

We have a lot of these countries

where the vessels originate from.

Today, Border Patrol

Agent Matt Mazur is on duty

when a call comes in from headquarters.

Hey, this is Mazur.

Hi, sir, we received a phone call.

Miami Dade PD is with a subject

now that they think is an overstay.

They're requesting assistance.

I have no information for the subject.

I'll call them now, that's fine.

Looks like

we have a potential visa overstay.

This is Supervisor Mazur.

- Hey, how are you, buddy?

- Good.

I heard you're out with someone right now.

Yes, I have someone stopped.

I called you first because she has

a hit for a theft or something.

- Can you send me your location.

- Okay.

In the state of Florida,

whenever Highway Patrol encounters someone

who might have overstayed their visa,

Border Patrol is called.

Agent Mazur heads to the scene.

There he is.

- 220, double time.

- Go ahead, sir.

I'll be with FHP.

We'll be at the 826 West

split off on the turnpike.

Here we go and stop.

We get out and we'll make contact

with FHP and see who we got.

- Nice to meet you.

- Likewise. So, that's her.

I'll interview her real quick.

The woman is from Cuba.

Agent Mazur needs to get to the bottom

of her immigration status.

Do you have documents to stay legally

in the United States?

Yes, I mean, I got in with a visa.

With a visa, okay.

But when did you get to the U.S.?

- Two years.

- Two years, okay.

- And which type of visa did you have?

- A tourist visa.

Tourist. Okay.

And when did you leave the country?

- When did I leave?

- Yes.

When? I haven't left.

I came here and didn't leave.

- Do you have a valid visa or not?

- It is.

- When did you leave?

- It expired.

It expired. Okay.

So, you're staying illegally

in the U.S?

- ill*gal, yes.

- Okay.

Okay, then come with me, okay?

The woman has admitted

to entering on a tourist visa

and was supposed to leave the US

after six months.

She now faces arrest

and potential deportation,

but there's more to the story.

- I've got a daughter.

- I know.

She doesn't have anyone else.

- How old?

- She is nine.

- Nine, okay.

- She goes to school.

- Okay. Is she in school right now?

- Yes.

So, she says

she has a nine-year-old daughter

that's in school right now.

So that'll be potentially

one of the mitigating things

when they get back to the station.

The fact that she has a child

within the education system

may strengthen the woman's argument

to remain in the US.

For now, she is taken back to headquarters

where agents can begin examining her case.

Now, we're heading back to the station

and then, we'll start processing her.

We'll roll her fingerprints,

take the picture.

We'll contact immigration,

customs enforcement,

and they'll make that determination

whether or not to house her

or to release her

and have her report thereafter.

On the east coast of Puerto Rico

- Is that the North Port?

- Yes.

after spotting

an erratically-driving vessel,

agents have intercepted the boat

and found it full of drunk passengers.

So, I've given plenty of room.

If he's going port-side.

For the passengers safety

and to determine if the boat

also contains contraband,

they've been escorted back to land.

And I don't think that guy has

a lot of boat handling skills,

at least in close quarters,

so we just want them

to dock wherever they want.

Once they secure the boat,

we will dock this boat

and we'll go talk to them.

- Perfect.

- Bingo.

Once safely docked,

agents are able to conduct

a proper inspection of the boat

and its highly intoxicated passengers.

- How long have you had the

- Twelve years, nearly 12 years.

The captain says he took his friend

to the nearby island of Culebra

for a birthday celebration

where they lost track of time

and their alcohol intake.

And I have to ask you, please

that since there are

a lot of people in there

- that they can come out for a moment.

- Yes, of course.

We still need to board the boat

to corroborate a few things.

We are looking for indicators

that might rise our suspicion

of something else going on

other than, you know,

them having a good time at the beach

in Culebra and partying.

Culebra is commonly used

as a transit point by drug-runners.

To be sure the partying

isn't just a cover story,

agent Victor thoroughly searches

the vessel for any contraband.

Even a boat of this size

has plenty of cubbyholes

in which narcotics could be stashed.

Everyone is diligently inspected.

Okay. I'm good.

Boss, thanks a million for cooperating.

No, that's your job, officer.

Thank you.

Sometimes you have to be patient

with these situations.

Obviously people

under the influence of alcohol.

We had a female there that was

unable to walk, was unable to talk.

So, we have to use due diligence.

The boat's clean.

Nothing, nothing suspicious.

They're just a bunch of people

on vacation having a good time.

Everybody's good to go.

Bye. Ciao.

Love, you are really hot

and you stop recording me.

Tatiana come on, follow them.

Back in Florida

a Cuban woman has been detained

by Border Patrol Agent Mazur

after a routine traffic stop revealed

she was in violation of her visa.

We headed out to the scene.

I interviewed the individual.

She told me she came through on a,

like, she's got a tourist visa

and that her visa expired

and she was supposed to leave.

With no legal right to remain in the US

this woman may be imprisoned or deported.

Inside, agents begin processing her case.

She's being processed.

We have the processing corners

getting her biographical information in,

capturing that,

the fingerprints, the photographs.

The woman's situation is complicated

because she is the single parent

of a nine-year-old girl

who is enrolled in school in the US.

She has the nine-year-old child here

that's in school right now,

so we'll allow her to call her child,

make that notification, set a coordination

where, you know,

she can hopefully get someone

to go pick up that kid from school.

But while her daughter may support

her case to remain in the US,

background checks have revealed

something which won't.

The woman has

an outstanding warrant for theft.

She does have that NTC hit previously.

We're gonna notify NTC

that we have her in custody

and verify that

that's who the look-out is for

and then they'll coordinate

or we'll coordinate too,

make the notifications,

get the debrief going

because she is more of a priority

apprehension here at this point.

Once agents have gathered

all the information,

they contact immigration control

who will decide what happens next.

If you got any trash, food or drink,

please take it with you too.

Follow me, please.

All straight, through the door.

For this woman, it's good news.

Despite her criminal record,

for now she's going to be released.

We processed her as a visa waver overstay

and they gave her

the alternative to detention.

Undocumented migrants are dealt with

on a case-by-case basis.

In the alternatives to detention program,

allows for monitored release

in certain circumstances.

The woman is freed in order to care

for her young daughter.

She's gonna be given an ankle monitor.

As part of the alternatives

to detention, the ATD,

it is until she gets a hearing

in front of an immigration judge.

She will later be required

to attend an immigration hearing,

which will ultimately decide

whether she can remain in the US.

Police!

Police!

Back on the south coast of Puerto Rico

HSI Agent Joe Tyrell and a group

of specialized tactical police

are carrying out a series of raids

to arrest dozens of members

of a major drug trafficking g*ng.

So far, they've captured most

of the individuals on their list,

but one high-profile target

was not at home.

Open the door!

Now, following a tip-off from his mother,

they think they may have tracked him

down to his girlfriend's apartment.

After a man comes to the door,

a positive ID reveals

he is the person they've been looking for.

Get up! We go.

Do we have a transport unit for that one?

Yes.

Put him in the front.

With the final target in custody,

it's mission accomplished

for Agent Tyrell and his team.

Very good.

Everything went well.

My main concern is security,

so everybody's safe

and if everybody's safe,

all agents are safe, I'm good to go.

So, we've arrested most of the targets,

so definitely a success.

Once we were on the ground,

we moved to the target

and we deployed

a couple of flashbangs on the outside

to cause a distraction.

Everything so far it's been in the flow.

Across the five housing projects,

a total of 45 g*ng members

have been rounded up.

Operation Total Silence is over.

All the arrestees

are being transported to our base

in Camp Santiago.

They're gonna be processed there.

Then in the morning,

a pre-trial service

is gonna be there for interview

and after that we're gonna have

an initial appearance

that's gonna take place there

with a US Magistrates judge.

Eight a.m

at the processing site

in Camp Santiago,

25 miles east of Ponce,

the investigation into the g*ng

is gathering pace.

Pre-trial interviews are underway

and with the only remaining suspects

located in the continental United States,

the operation may have achieved

its ultimate goal

the takedown

of an entire criminal organization.

Right now we have 45 individuals

under custody out of 60,

so that is a great number.

We're still working on some that are

not located here in Puerto Rico.

We are working now with different offices

in order for them

to execute those arrest warrants.

Alongside runners, dealers

and foot soldiers,

in custody is an individual believed

to be the g*ng's overall boss.

We were able to arrest

the number one target

who we believe is in charge

of all the public housing projects.

That means that whole organization

now is not gonna have a leader,

so they're gonna be struggling.

Putting these violent criminals

behind bars

marks a significant victory

in the fight against crime in Puerto Rico

as well as closure

for law enforcement agents.

This operation was very personal.

This organization were the ones

that were receiving

the narcotics that were interdicted

by MIA Maceda,

who was fatally shot.

That is the level of violence

that they represent.

This means a lot.