04x05 - Blow Overboard

[bunniefuu]

♪ ♪

OFFICER:
Hello, good day.

OFFICER ARAGON:
How are you?

TRAVELER:
Good day.

OFFICER:
Where are you working?

TRAVELER:
I’m an Uber.

OFFICER: Uber? Oh, okay.
Do you use this car for work?

TRAVELER:
Yes.

OFFICER:
No fruit, tobacco, alcohol? Any of that?

OFFICER ARAGON:
Thank you, sir, have a good one.

Gracias.

- [tires screeching]
- [car crashes]

- [car alarm sounding]
- OFFICER ARAGON: What up?

OFFICER:
There’s an accident in lane 25.

OFFICER ARAGON: What happened?

What happened?

OFFICER:
Loaded vehicle.

Loaded vehicle.

- OFFICER ARAGON: It's loaded or what?
- OFFICER: Yeah.

OFFICER:
We got a positive on Pre-Primary.

Positive on Pre-Primary.

OFFICER [off screen]: Right there.

OFFICER 1 [off screen]: It's that red one.

OFFICER 2 [off screen]:
So, every day here at the bridge, uh,

we do see, uh, fender benders,
we do see cars bumping into each other,

but I don’t think I’ve ever seen
a car hit another car

and when we get there,
the bundles are right there.

OFFICER GARCIA:
He got nervous, probably,

or just wasn’t paying attention.

OFFICER ARAGON:
Who knows, who knows what happened.

- That’s how it happens sometimes.
- OFFICER GARCIA [off screen]: Sometimes

it’s just dumb luck, it’s just dumb luck.

[K9 barks]

OFFICER ARAGON [off screen]:
So, there it is, there’s our

K9 positive alert,

so that’s another confirmation.

We haven’t actually tested
the substance yet,

but from our experience
and from what we’ve seen here

at the Ysleta border entry...

I would say it’s probably methamphetamine.

OFFICER [off screen]: Get this car
in secondary and make sure they’re okay.

If they need E.M.S., we’ll call E.M.S.

OFFICER ARAGON: The driver,
he’s already inside in a secure location,

so right now, we’re having
an officer go ahead and drive it in.

We’re gonna get more confirmation,
there’s probably more bundles.

Uh, who knows if there’s
gonna be more bundles.

Right now, we’re gonna
run it through our machine,

we’re gonna do a full inspection on it.

If there’s more bundles,
we’re gonna find 'em.

♪ ♪

AGENT GUTIERREZ:
Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the U.S.

It’s all considered
United States territory.

You go east, you start going
into the United States Virgin Islands,

British Virgin Islands, and so forth.

Be advised. We’re gonna be doin'
some training out here in the bay.

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER: There’s a lotta
transit between the islands,

so there’s a lot of vessels
moving across international borders.

AGENT GUTIERREZ: Comin' up. Comin' up.

They can come in from foreign islands,

easily blend in with local traffic

and it’s hard to make who came from where,

so... our presence out here,
it’s-- is vital.

[siren wails]

AGENT [off screen]:
U.S. Customs.

How are you guys doin' today?

TRAVELER:
Doing good.

AGENT [off screen]: Where you comin' from?

TRAVELER:
St. Croix.

AGENT GUTIERREZ:
X-ray twenty-one hundred, copy.

AGENT [off screen]:
Go for X-ray twenty-one hundred.

AGENT GUTIERREZ:
Can you please run this, guys?

Let’s just stop the vessel.

How long were you guys in St. Croix for?

TRAVELER: We were there,
I got there at, like, eight.

Hung out there on the beach for the day

and got some lunch.
And we’re coming back now.

AGENT: We’re just gonna take
a couple of minutes to look around.

AGENT GUTIERREZ:
We have a lot of scouting activities here,

so just by talkin' to somebody
you could really... have a good idea

if they’re legit, if they’re fishing,
if they’re just havin' a good time,

or they’re here, uh, scouting,
doin' counter-intel on law enforcement.

Registration for the vessel is valid.

AGENT:
I’m done back here.

- AGENT 1 [off screen]: That’s it?
- AGENT 2 [off screen]: Yup.

AGENT 3 [off screen]: Crossing.

AGENT 4 [off screen]:
All right. Thanks, guys.

AGENT GUTIERREZ: All this area
is a high corridor for maritime smuggling.

Again, it could happen
daytime or nighttime.

If we’re not there,
they’re gonna try to bring it in.

♪ ♪

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
How you doin', boss? Passport?

You’re traveling alone?

TRAVELER:
No, not really. I was with my mom.

She had to go back to New York.

OFFICER MARTINEZ: Where is home for you?

TRAVELER [off screen]:
Home for me is Miami.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
Miami? Okay.

- Have a good day.
- TRAVELER: Thanks.

OFFICER: Hey, how y’all doin'?
Do you have your passport on you?

What’s the purpose of your trip today?

TRAVELER: We are just traveling
to go to the beaches.

OFFICER: To the beaches?
Have a good one. Welcome.

TRAVELER:
Thank you.

OFFICER MARTINEZ: Miami’s a transit port
from South American countries,

from the Caribbean.

A lot of travelers come
into Miami to party,

to go to the beach, South Beach,
Ocean Drive, spend some money.

OFFICER CONNER: Hey, how you doin', ma’am?
What was the purpose of the trip?

TRAVELER:
My friends and I went to a concert.

OFFICER CONNER:
The friends are with you now, or no?

TRAVELER:
No, they took the first flight.

OFFICER CONNER:
All right, party on. Have a good one.

OFFICER GARZA: We’re seeing
a lotta passengers coming through,

and a lotta those guys are business guys
comin' in to party here in Miami.

OFFICER CONNER:
What was the purpose of the trip, sir?

- TRAVELER: Business.
- OFFICER CONNER [off screen]: What do you

- do for business?
- TRAVELER [off screen]: Personal trainer.

OFFICER CONNER: Personal trainer?
All right, you training--

TRAVELER: That’s my client
right there with the yellow.

- Celebrity.
- OFFICER CONNER [off screen]: Oh.

- What does he do?
- TRAVELER [off screen]: He’s an artist.

- Music.
- OFFICER CONNER [off screen]: A music

- artist?
- TRAVELER: He’s big time.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- OFFICER CONNER: He’s big time?

- All right.
- TRAVELER [off screen]: All right, boss.

- OFFICER CONNER: Hey, welcome back.
- TRAVELER: Thank you.

OFFICER MARTINEZ: Occasionally, we do
run into the traveler bringing contraband

from, you know, the Caribbean countries,
South America, and we look for that.

OFFICER CONNER [off screen]:
Sir, how you doin'?

We’re gonna take a look
inside the bags, okay?

Come over this way, please.

You were in Mexico for what? Why?

TRAVELER:
Because I am in the crypto industry, okay?

So, one person invest in me.

I meet him in Colombia.

He’s a business coach,
but he’s a Mexican guy.

He bought me the ticket.
I do business with him.

OFFICER CONNER [off screen]:
Any drug usage?

TRAVELER: I’ll be honest with you,
I just use marijuana.

I ask for LSD.

OFFICER CONNER [off screen]:
So, when you asked for LSD, what happened?

TRAVELER:
I ask to the drug dealer,

“Do you receive crypto?”
He told me no.

OFFICER CONNER: What we’re startin' to see
is individuals are trying to purchase,

uh, narcotics with crypto currency.

It’s a new phenomenon, but, um,
it’s somethin' that we need to deal with.

OFFICER [off screen]:
So, what drugs did you buy?

You bought marijuana from him?

TRAVELER:
Just only marijuana, yes.

OFFICER CONNER: In the past,
when you’ve used LSD, how did you take it?

TRAVELER:
How did I take it?

OFFICER CONNER [off screen]: Yeah,
how do you take it? Tell me the process.

TRAVELER:
I take it, it’s in a paper.

OFFICER CONNER:
A big paper? Small paper?

TRAVELER:
No, no, it’s a quarter.

OFFICER CONNER: Oh, [indistinct].

TRAVELER: And mix it with alcohol
and drink, and that’s it.

- Yeah.
- OFFICER CONNER: Small little paper?

Do you know t-that’s
how they sell 'em now?

The small little papers?

TRAVELER:
I guess so.

OFFICER CONNER [off screen]:
More or less?

TRAVELER: I guess.

OFFICER CONNER: So, obviously, now
w-we’re looking for small little papers.

Okay? And you have a lot of papers.

I just want you to understand...

we’re lookin' for LSD.

- TRAVELER: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure, sure.
- OFFICER CONNER [off screen]: Yeah? Okay?

We’re gonna go to another room,
do another inspection, so follow us, okay?

- OFFICER: You good?
- OFFICER CONNER: Yeah.

Persons who are bringin'
in narcotics for recreational usage

can either receive a fine
up into, uh, uh, imprisonment

if they are bringin' in narcotics
into the United States.

All right, sir, we’ll have you put
your bag right here for me, please.

Take off the jacket, the hat.

Take everything outta your pockets.

♪ ♪

OFFICER ARAGON: We’re gonna see
if we see any more anomalies

on our Z-portal machine, uh,
and then I’m following the vehicle

just to make sure that none
of those bundles fall off

‘cause at any moment
that looks like they could fall off.

We ran it through our Z-portal machine,

they were able to tell us
that we had more anomalies.

Okay, so right now,
I’m opening up the hood.

Just-- We’re gonna start to--

It looks like it’s stuck already
‘cause of the crash,

so I’m gonna see
if I can get the hood open.

Okay.

[indistinct chatter]

- It looks like we got some more.
- OFFICER [off screen]: Right there.

All there. And then it’s gonna be
both fenders and then the spare tire.

OFFICER ARAGON [off screen]:
The spare tire looks like it’s got

anomalies as well,

so we’ll go ahead
and, uh, dismantle that later.

This is definitely
something for the books.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen
a vehicle crash on the Pre-Primary lane

and then as soon as they crash,
we see the bundles coming out.

I mean, we-we-we’ve seen
some crazy stuff here at the bridge,

but what we just saw right now
is-is-is-is pretty amazing.

♪ ♪

OFFICER [off screen]:
If you open this up and you see this,

you’re not gonna
be able to see the bundle--

- OFFICER ARAGON: ‘Cause this isn’t normal.
- OFFICER: so it's just blocking it. No.

OFFICER ARAGON:
This right here isn’t normal.

Who knows where this came from.

But what they do is that they
put this here to cover the bundles,

so we can’t see them,
we can’t get to them.

And this is a s-specifc area
that they told us... and there it is.

We got some right there...
and one right here... and one up here.

That one’s blue.

I think after this, we’re gonna
start checking the dash area...

and see what we find.

There’s some more packages.

They’ll put them wherever they can

and if they fit,
they’ll squeeze them in there.

OFFICER [off screen]: Going up.

OFFICER ARAGON [off screen]:
Sometimes you look at a spare tire,

it doesn’t look like
there’s anything in there,

but... because of the space
that’s inside the tire,

that’s where they put the, uh,
the narcotics sometimes.

OFFICER:
If you actually move it, you can feel it.

OFFICER ARAGON:
And this one, for sure the weight,

and then you could--
If you spin it around...

you can... you can hear
the bundles in there.

That's for sure.

So, they’re in there
and it’s a lot heavier than,

than we’re used to.

So, right now, we’ll use some tools,

cut it open a little bit,
just to get confirmation

that there’s actually
narcotic bundles in there.

♪ ♪

OFFICER: Hey. Get another test kit
and test the paper. Cut this out.

Looking at this notebook
that could be, potentially, LSD.

It’s too many of these pictures.

Too much of something
is usually something,

it’s usually out of the ordinary
if someone brings...

large quantities of something.

For example,
large quantities of shampoo bottles,

large quantity of notebooks.

OFFICER: Negative.

- OFFICER 1: Okay.
- OFFICER 2 [off screen]: Negative, LSD.

OFFICER:
All right, let’s cut him loose then.

There’s nothing else there,
he’s a user, that’s it.

How much of a user? We don’t know.

- He’s not a dealer.
- OFFICER CONNER: Okay, okay.

Basically, uh, we didn’t
find anything on him

and, uh, he didn’t have
any drugs or narcotics

upon his entry into the United States,
so he was, uh, cleared to go.

AGENT [off screen]:
We’re southwest of Culebra.

AGENT: We have a possible T.O.I.
[Target of Interest]

spotted where you are right now.

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER:
We’ll, uh, go for it.

We’re gonna go check a boat
that’s, uh, south of PR.

Um, we got some information
that there’s a vessel out there,

um, so we’re gonna go see what it is.

You see it right there?

[shouts]

AGENT:
How are you, Captain? Customs.

TRAVELER:
Good evening.

AGENT:
Where are you coming from?

How many miles from here were you?

TRAVELER:


AGENT: 20 miles? Okay.

Do you have the boat’s
registration and identification?

OFFICER SANTAMARIA:
The bad guys are very creative.

Sometimes they pretend to be, uh, fishing
out there when they’re doing bad things.

If doesn’t matter we got, uh,
fishing poles or everything,

we gotta still gotta check.

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER [off screen]:
You catch anything?

AGENT: No.

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER [off screen]:
They keep it in the marina or the s-slip?

AGENT:
Do you keep the boat at the marina?

Or at a house?

TRAVELER:
At the house.

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER:
House? Let’s check them out real quick.

AGENT: Captain, excuse me,
does the gentleman have ID?

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER:
Yeah, can you run the guys for us?

AGENT:
The first one is good to go.

The other one we got, in the process
of enrolling in global entry.

[indistinct chatter]

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER: Did a document check,
everything checked out.

AGENT SANTAMARIA:
We need to stop every vessel,

we don’t only go for narcotics,
we also check documents.

TRAVELER:
Goodnight.

AGENT:
Goodnight.

AGENT SANTAMARIA:
That’s part of the job.

Here in our environment, we have
many, many, many recreational vessels.

So, as you can see,
if they wanna bring something in,

it’s a high probability that they
can use recreational vessels.

AGENT:
Vessel outbound headed west.

AGENT SANTAMARIA: So, right now,
we’re heading toward St. Thomas.

St. Thomas marine unit, uh, have
a vessel comin' in through the bay.

A suspect, a suspect vessel.

So, we’re gonna go help 'em out.

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER:
Two people... Two engines.

- Comin' out of the bay.
- AGENT [off screen]: Go, go, go, go!

♪ ♪

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
How you doin', sir? Passport, please?

TRAVELER: Yeah, I’m good.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
Where you comin' from today?

- TRAVELER: Barbados.
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: Barbados.

- And where you goin' now?
- TRAVELER: Yeah. Brickell.

OFFICER MARTINEZ: Brickell?
What’re you gonna do in Brickell?

- TRAVELER: Party. Shop.
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: Party?

- You travelin' with somebody today?
- TRAVELER: The two main things.

- Nah, I’m meetin' my friends here, though.
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: Oh, okay.

And how many days you gonna be here?

- TRAVELER: I’m only here two nights.
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: Two?

TRAVELER: But they’re gonna
be here for a whole week.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
So, where’s your other friends at?

- TRAVELER: Mexico City--
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: Mexico City?

And you came from where?

- TRAVELER: Barbados.
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: Barbados.

TRAVELER:
I've been working there remotely--

- OFFICER MARTINEZ: Uh-huh.
- TRAVELER: on the twelve-month visa.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
Okay, and what do you do for work?

TRAVELER: Pharmaceuticals.

- OFFICER MARTINEZ: Pharmaceuticals.
- TRAVELER: So, basically, within, um--

- I’m a headhunter for, like--
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: Mm-hm.

TRAVELER:
I don’t know if you know Moderna, Pfizer,

- J&J.
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: Yep. Okay.

Do you have any pharmaceuticals
in your bags today?

TRAVELER: No, I--
Yeah, actually. I do have this one.

OFFICER MARTINEZ: Don’t open it up yet.
I'll tell you what, just follow me.

We’re gonna do a quick exam
and then you're on your way.

This individual, he’s telling me that he’s
gonna be partying here for two days,

doesn’t have any set plans.

And with that, we’re gonna go talk to him,

get some more information
and make sure he’s not bringin'

any contraband or party drugs into Miami.

So, do me a favor.

Just take the neck, uh, piece off
real quick and hand it to me.

TRAVELER: Here you go.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
All right. Hand me the jacket.

TRAVELER: Yeah.

OFFICER MARTINEZ [off screen]:
These bags all belong to you?

TRAVELER: These are both mine, yeah.

OFFICER MARTINEZ [off screen]:
Everything inside is yours?

TRAVELER: Everything inside is mine.

OFFICER MARTINEZ: How much cash
did you say you have with you?

- TRAVELER [off screen]: Uh, none. No cash.
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: No cash?

TRAVELER [off screen]: Yeah, no cash.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
You said you’re gonna party?

- TRAVELER: Yeah.
- OFFICER MARTINEZ [off screen]: Where you

guys gonna party at?

- TRAVELER [off screen]: No idea. I mean--
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: No idea?

TRAVELER [off screen]:
Uh, a boat cruise, yeah.

- OFFICER MARTINEZ: A boat cruise?
- TRAVELER [off screen]: Today.

It goes, like, through, like,
Fort Lauderdale and stuff like that,

- so I think that will be nice.
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: Oh, really?

- TRAVELER: And, uh--
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: But you guys don’t have

anything planned?

TRAVELER: Yeah, that’s the only thing
we really got planned.

The next day,
probably just gonna be hungover, shopping.

OFFICER MARTINEZ [off screen]:
How many people total is it?

- TRAVELER: Um, joining us on the boat?
- OFFICER MARTINEZ [off screen]: Yeah.

TRAVELER:
Probably gonna be about nine of us--

OFFICER MARTINEZ [off screen]:
Nine of you guys?

Individual has no cash,
two bags with one pair of clothes.

- So, where did you say you’re staying?
- TRAVELER: I’m staying in Brickell.

- OFFICER MARTINEZ: In Brickell.
- TRAVELER: Brickell Bay Drive.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
How're you gonna get there?

TRAVELER: I don’t know.

- I’m gonna go outside and get a cab or--
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: You don’t know?

You don’t seem to have
very many things planned.

It sounds like you
just sporadically decided to come.

TRAVELER: Uh, uh,
that’s-that’s me, bro. I’m a winger.

OFFICER MARTINEZ: Just kind of strange.

Do you have more of this?

TRAVELER: No, no, no.
It wasn’t-- It’s not like that. Uh...

♪ ♪

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
What’s this, sir?

TRAVELER [off screen]: That’s one
of my medications, but it’s labeled.

OFFICER MARTINEZ: It’s over the counter?

- TRAVELER: Yeah.
- OFFICER MARTINEZ [off screen]: All right.

After examining the individual’s bags,

no cash,
traveling with very little clothing,

coming here to party
for two days with nine friends...

led me to believe he possibly could've
had some contraband on his body.

Okay, do me a favor. Grab everything.

- TRAVELER: Yeah.
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: We have to pat you down

and make sure you don’t have any

- contraband on you, all right?
- TRAVELER: All good, bro. All good.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
Just come around this way.

Just come right on in here.

During the pat down,
there was no findings on the individual

of any concealed contraband,
uh, any party drugs,

so the individual was free to go.

You’re good to go.

TRAVELER: Cheers, mate.

♪ ♪

OFFICER ARAGON:
Yeah, right now, we’re takin' out the air,

just to get a little bit
easier access to it.

And now, with the air out,
it’s still just as heavy, of course,

but... you can hear that more.

You can kind of already see right there,
there’s a little bit.

You can see there’s
one bundle right there.

This is a little bit bigger bundle...
than the ones we saw earlier.

OFFICER: Right now, we’re gonna go ahead
and test this contraband that we found.

Believe it to be crystal meth.

So, we’re lookin' for a brown in color.

Once it turns brown.

I can see it right now.
It’s brown, turned brown real quick,

so it’s positive for crystal meth.

OFFICER ARAGON:
We’re gonna get a final weight.

This is definitely one
of the big seizures,

uh, that we’ve had,
so, I mean, it’s quite a bit.

Sometimes we’ll just see,
you know, just a spare tire,

sometimes we’ll see
just the, just the dash.

But this one, it was all over the vehicle,
especially for the kind of drug it is,

so it’s definitely a big win.

It looks like we got 36 bundles.

23.32 kilograms.

Definitely a good, good seizure today.

Uh, we got methamphetamine
off the streets.

Me being a parent,
I don’t want that going to my kids,

I don’t want that going to my schools.

So, one of the major reasons
why I do this job--

I love, I love taking, uh, meth, coke,
all those hard narcotics off the streets.

♪ ♪

OFFICER: How long are you
gonna be in the States for?

- TRAVELER: ‘Til Wednesday.
- OFFICER: ‘Til Wednesday?

Just take a little break?

OFFICER LOPEZ: Right now,
we’re in baggage control area.

We got several flights comin' in.

So, instead of chasing them,

we’re just gonna pick
a strategic position,

which is here at the funnel

and we’re gonna select
the best that we can,

so we can get a seizure today.

OFFICER CONNER:
We’ve seen a lot of different

type of drugs, narcotics, comin' in.

2C, ketamine, things of that nature,

so we gotta change with the times.

OFFICER: How are you?

Passport.

We’re just gonna inspect your bags.

OFFICER LOPEZ:
We selected a mother and a son duo.

We like to base off
behavior and travel story.

They only have two small bags,

so we’re gonna double-check now
the luggage, see what we find.

OFFICER PEREZ: Everything inside
of the bags belongs to you?

TRAVELER: Yeah.

OFFICER PEREZ: Everything is yours?

TRAVELER: Yeah.

OFFICER PEREZ:
Do you pack this bag yourself?

TRAVELER: Yeah.

OFFICER PEREZ:
This is your mom’s or?

TRAVELER:
I have no idea.

Must be.

OFFICER PEREZ: You have no idea?

Didn’t you say
you packed your bags yourself?

TRAVELER: Then I went to bed,
and we didn’t have much space, so.

OFFICER PEREZ: Okay.

OFFICER LOPEZ: Better get the backpack.

What do you use these for?

TRAVELER:
To sleep.

OFFICER LOPEZ: Smells funky.

TRAVELER:
It’s magnesium.

OFFICER LOPEZ:
You know, we’ve seen it where

people take out the medication
and then they put ill*gal things.

This is good.

Okay.

What about this one?

TRAVELER:
It’s, uh,

it's like an herbal tea for energy.

OFFICER LOPEZ: So, it says, “ginger root.”
So, it’s not ginger root.

TRAVELER: No.

OFFICER LOPEZ: So, why are
you saying this is ginger root?

TRAVELER: It’s, um...

it’s kratom.

OFFICER LOPEZ:
Yeah? I don’t know that one.

It’s not drugs, is it?

♪ ♪

AGENT:
Eight, four, three, S-R-G.

Vessel outbound headed west.

Appears to be two or three on board, over.

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER [off screen]:
Two people... Two engines.

Comin' out of the bay.
Two people on board.

St. Thomas, 1:00.

We got some information
from a law enforcement partner

of a vessel traveling in between
St. Thomas and Culebra, Puerto Rico.

The vessel’s traveling,
possibly, without lights

and traveling to a known
smuggling location.

AGENT [off screen]:
Where’s the other night boat?

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER [off screen]:
Right there. Right off our bow.

About quarter of a mile.

Our other office, over in St. Thomas
launched a vessel as well

and hopefully, we come up
with an interdiction here.

AGENT [on walkie]:
Four-three, we are reporting our contacts.

1.5 miles at our 11:00.

AGENT ESPINEL: We are, uh, SVIP-capable;
small vessel interdiction program.

Uh, SVIP allows to, uh, to stop
a vessel before it-it reach land.

If the subject vessel doesn’t wanna stop,

we’re able to, uh, to fire,
uh, warning rounds...

and then if the vessel doesn’t stop
with the warning rounds

and attempt to escape from us,

we are-- we’re capable of, uh,
sh**ting down the engines

with a special shotgun shell.

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER [off screen]:
He’s close to land right now.

He’s in and out of radar contact on ARPA.

You see it right there?

He’s very faint.

We are taking a lot
of different factors to make sure that

the people on our vessel
and the people on the vessel

that’s running away from us are safe.

All right, I got him. I got him on N.V.G.
[Night Vision Goggles].

Oh, here he is.

See him right there?

[siren wails]

Go for it.

AGENT:
Hands up!

Hands up!

Hands up!

- [siren wails]
- AGENT [off screen]: Clear!

AGENT:
Stand by, warning!

[sh**ting]

AGENT [off screen]: He’s still goin'!

AGENT:
Stand by, disabling!

[sh**ting]

AGENT: Hands up!

Hands up!

Hands up!

AGENT [off screen]: Go, go, go, go!

AGENT:
Stay on it.

[indistinct yelling]

AGENT 1 [off screen]: You’re good.
We’re good here. Good here.

AGENT 2 [off screen]:
Front, front, front, front.

AGENT 3: Uh, we got seven-nine-eight,
uh, coming in this way.

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER [off screen]:
We’re gonna take one handcuff out,

you’re gonna climb on board.

AGENT: Hands up.

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER: Yeah.

Hands in front.

AGENT [on walkie]:
Bundles over, bundles over.

Suspect threw bundles overboard.

AGENT: We witnessed the smugglers
throwing, uh, bundles overboard.

Luckily for us,
we had a-a secondary vessel,

St. Thomas marine unit,

that was able to-to turn back

and actually, picked up
those, uh, those bundles.

- ST. THOMAS MARINE UNIT [on phone]: Hello.
- AGENT SCHNEEBERGER: Hey. You good?

ST. THOMAS MARINE UNIT:
Yeah, we’re good. We got three.

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER:
Okay, so we’re super close to St. Thomas,

so I think we’re just gonna...
bring it in to St. Thomas

and, uh, go from there.

AGENT ESPINEL: St. Thomas marine unit

were able to locate
three bags with contraband.

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER:
Let’s bring this boat back, get it--

Drop it off... so we can start
makin' moves on these guys.

AGENT: Sounds good.

AGENT ESPINEL: We decided to take
the vessel back to St. Thomas marine unit.

It’s their jurisdiction,
so we will help out their unit,

towing the vessel
and the subjects back to their unit

so they can process it.

AGENT: You guys like to end
the shift with a bang.

♪ ♪

OFFICER LOPEZ: What about this one?

TRAVELER:
That’s kratom, or kratom.

OFFICER LOPEZ: I don’t know that one.
What is that one for?

TRAVELER:
It’s like a cousin of the coffee plant.



OFFICER LOPEZ: Yeah.

TRAVELER: I’m also part
of the American Kratom Association.

Setting up to keep it legal.

OFFICER LOPEZ: If it’s a coffee plant...

it shouldn’t be ill*gal, right?

TRAVELER:
The government wants to make it ill*gal.

OFFICER LOPEZ [off screen]: Why?

TRAVELER: Because it keeps people
from taking prescription drugs.

Prescription drugs is how
America makes their money.

OFFICER LOPEZ:
Well, not just from that, but, yeah, okay.

Put everything together.
Gimme a second with this.

We try to stay up on all
the narcotics that comes up,

but sometimes we might miss them,
and from what I’m reading,

there’s really nothing
that we have to seize

or is prohibited for now.

I will, however, do more research on this,

instruct my other officers as well.

Anything on her?

OFFICER: No.

OFFICER LOPEZ:
All right, let’s cut ‘em then.

And we’re off to our next flight,
try to catch something.

Taught me something new today, man.

Go 'head, man.

Have a good one, all right?

♪ ♪

OFFICER: How long do you plan
on stayin' in El Paso today?

TRAVELER:
For today’s job.

Just for today.

OFFICER: Just for today.

OFFICER NEVAREZ: Good morning.
Anything to declare today, Miguel?

Oh, where you headed?

I try to build, like,
a little rapport with the individuals,

you know, try to see if there’s
any signs of nervousness,

try to see if their story makes sense.

We're making sure
everything’s okay on the vehicle.

We’re doin' one thing,
we’re doing two more things,

three more things.

There’s a lot more that they
don’t see that we have to do.

OFFICER:
K9 hit. We got a K9 hit.

Vehicle to secondary.

CHIEF OFFICER DOWNEY:
Well, initially, the primary officer

noticed the driver being nervous,

negative eye contact, uh,
his hands were visibly shaking

as he handed his passport
to the primary officer.

OFFICER [off screen]:
Where is it? Where is it? Good girl.

Ooh! Good girl.

- OFFICER ARAGON: Start dismantling?
- OFFICER: Yes.

OFFICER ARAGON: Okay, cool.

CHIEF OFFICER DOWNEY: I recalled
from back on October 4th of 2021,

this particular vehicle was, uh,
apprehended here at the port of entry

with a non-factory, uh,
front bumper compartment.

It was empty that day,
so we put a lookout,

if you will, on the vehicle.

OFFICER [off screen]: Oh.

So, there’s the button right here.

This will also come out.

Woah.

♪ ♪

- OFFICER 1 [off screen]: Oh, wow.
- OFFICER 2 [off screen]: Found it?

OFFICER 3 [off screen]: Oh, yes.

OFFICER 1 [off screen]:
Oh, you got one more right here.

SUPERVISORY AGENT REGGIE:
So, I just arrived here on scene

‘cause we were notified by, uh,
Customs and Border Protection

of a vehicle
possibly containing narcotics.

It has a button
that releases the license plate.

You have a non-factory compartment
built in the front of the bumper.

They saw this vehicle
last year going south

with the fake compartment.

This time, what they did,
they exchanged the license plates...

which was not registering in the computer.

However... these officers noticing
this vehicle last year, intrigued them...

so they did further inspection on it.

This is the first time I see it

in the front bumper
with the license plate.

Anything you can think of,
these guys have tried.

They do have people that do research

and see what
the ports of entry are targeting.

I had one guy that I arrested
one day, he says,

"Every time you take me down,
you just perfect my game

‘cause I know what you’re looking for.”

The agents are gonna come here
and interview the driver of the vehicle.

The officers will start extracting
whatever bundles were in there

and make sure they get
every single bundle outta there

before they weigh it and test it
for the, uh, content of the narcotics.

♪ ♪

AGENT [on walkie]:
Eight-one-one. Eight-four-three.

AGENT [off screen]: Go for one-one.

AGENT:
We’re going to put you in our slip.

AGENT [off screen]: All right, neutral.

Keep on goin' forward... You’re good.

AGENT: Rainbow-six, comin' in hot.

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER:
Once those two individuals secured,

the St. Thomas marine unit vessel
went back to the location

where the bundles were tossed over

and were able to recover
three duffle bags...

filled with cocaine.

AGENT [off screen]: Up... Next one.

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER:
All the subjects were turned over

to the St. Thomas marine unit

and they’re going
to be processed in the district court

of the United States Virgin Islands.

It’s gonna take an initial appearance
and processed, probably, by DEA or HSI.

AGENT: Just wanna test the kilos here
usin' the DetectaChem right here.

And this'll be the packet
that we'll use for it.

Right here.

[beeping]

Right there.

AGENT: One, two, three.

AGENT SCHNEEBERGER:
In total, 79 bricks of cocaine.

85 kilos.

The work never ends.

There’s always gonna be
lots of people out there

that are trying to bring in narcotics
or, uh, smuggle human beings into,

uh, Puerto Rico
and into the United States.

So, we’ll regroup here
and start anew the next day

and try to catch more contraband.

♪ ♪

- OFFICER MARTINEZ: Where you comin' from?
- TRAVELER: Spain.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
And what were you doin' over there?

TRAVELER: I live in Spain.

OFFICER MARTINEZ [off screen]:
Oh, you live over there?

- TRAVELER: Yeah.
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: All right.

Thank you, have a good day.

Hello, sir. How are you?

Where you comin' from today?

TRAVELER:
Medellin.

- OFFICER MARTINEZ [off screen]: Medellin?
- TRAVELER: Yeah, I live here.

OFFICER MARTINEZ [off screen]:
Okay, we’re just gonna take a quick look

inside your bag, all right?
Just follow me, please.

How long were you out in Colombia?

TRAVELER:
I was there since last Saturday.

OFFICER MARTINEZ: Saturday?

Where did you stay
while you were out there?

TRAVELER:
Two days I was in Envigado.

- OFFICER MARTINEZ: Uh-huh.
- TRAVELER: We had a house

and then I stayed in,
like, two different hotels.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
Okay. First trip to Colombia or?

TRAVELER:
No, no, no.

Been there every two months.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
All right. What do you do for work

that you’re able to travel so much?

- TRAVELER: I work in medical sales. Yeah.
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: Medical sales.

- Just come right in.
- TRAVELER: Sure.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
I came across an individual

coming from Medellin, Colombia,
a U.S. citizen.

Go 'head and put everything
up on the table.

Multiple trips to and from
Medellin every month or two,

stays a few days,
comes back to Miami, goes back again.

He just fit the travel pattern of a person

who could possibly be going
to Colombia to pick up contraband

and bring it back into the United States.

- These bags belong to you, correct?
- TRAVELER [off screen]: Yes, sir.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
Everything inside is yours?

TRAVELER: Yep.

OFFICER MARTINEZ: Is this locked?

- TRAVELER [off screen]: No.
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: No? All right.

TRAVELER:
Pretty standard.

OFFICER MARTINEZ: So, what kinda things
did you do on this trip?

TRAVELER:
Um, I mean,

I have friends who live there, so...

hanging out.

OFFICER GARZA: What’s this, sir?

TRAVELER:
That’s, like, electrolyte powder.

OFFICER MARTINEZ [off screen]: Do you
always travel with electrolyte powder--

TRAVELER:
I forgot it was in the bag, but yeah.

OFFICER MARTINEZ [off screen]:
This small vial here,

typically, is used
for controlled substances.

You take it to the club,
it’s easy to put in your pocket.

It’s gonna be harder to find.

We’re gonna be doin' some tests

- on this stuff right there.
- TRAVELER: Sure.

OFFICER GARZA: Countries known
for bringing in narcotics here in Miami

are Dominican Republic, Colombia, Brazil.

Cocaine did use to be a big deal,

however, now we’re seeing ketamine
comin' through and 2C comin' through.

OFFICER MARTINEZ: As long as
it’s what you’re telling me it is,

you’ll be on your way.
If it’s not, then we’re gonna have

to go from there.

♪ ♪

OFFICER MARTINEZ [off screen]:
You said this was what again?

TRAVELER:
Electrolyte powder.

OFFICER MARTINEZ [off screen]:
Okay. Just give me a second, though.

Positive for ketamine hydrochloride,
which is a DEA-controlled substance.

It’s ill*gal to transport into the U.S.

- TRAVELER: No idea.
- OFFICER MARTINEZ: It’s ill*gal to have

in the U.S. without a prescription.

TRAVELER: To be honest,
I didn’t even know that was in the bag.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
You have some medications in here?

TRAVELER: Yeah, I have mixed stuff
like Adderall, Cialis to be honest.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
Is everything prescribed or?

TRAVELER:
Yeah, everything is prescribed.

OFFICER MARTINEZ: And this one?

TRAVELER:
Should be residue from that.

Same thing.

OFFICER MARTINEZ: Should be?

TRAVELER:
There’s nothing in there.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
Found another baggie of a brown,

um, salt-like substance,

so we’re gonna have to do our checks
and just determine what that substance is.

All right, sir. Just come right in here.

Just put your bags up on the table.

TRAVELER:
Sure.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
All right, we’re gonna check your body,

make sure you don’t have anything on you.

So, we’re gonna do a pat down--

TRAVELER:
Sure.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
We’re gonna recheck your bags,

make sure we didn’t miss anything,

and then we’re gonna process this,

see where we’re gonna go
from there, all right?

In patting the individual down,

we located a small baggie
of a white powdery substance

inside his front right pocket.

Took it out, I asked him what it was,

he immediately said,
“Oh, I didn’t know it was there.”

So, now we’re gonna go
and, uh, retest everything

and, uh, just to verify what we found.

First one...

ketamine hydrochloride again.

Ketamine, it always turns up
blue... when we test it.

Cocaine hydrochloride.

Third one's MDMA.

The white powder turned out
to be cocaine hydrochloride,

the tan-colored, salt-like substance
turned out to be MDMA,

and the pink powder is positive
for ketamine hydrochloride.

We’re just gonna put
you right back in here.

What is gonna happen is
we’re gonna charge you a, a penalty.

The penalty is $5,000.
We can mitigate it down to $500.

This is the one, you know, break
you’re getting if you wanna call it.

So, you’ll pay the $500...
you get some paperwork,

and you’ll be on your way, all right?

The passenger was charged a fine.

He was allowed to be released,
uh, upon paying the fine.

Some things that led into that were, uh,
his-- you know, his cooperation with us,

the amount of substances he had on him.

Just, in the future, make sure
you know what you’re bringin'

in your pockets and your bags--

TRAVELER:
Clearly.

OFFICER MARTINEZ:
That does happen often.

Passengers say, “Oh, I don’t know
what was inside this bag.”

But part of our inspection
is we ask those questions:

"Is this your bag?
Everything inside belongs to you?"

So, before we even open it up,

they’re takin' responsibility
for anything that we find inside.

♪ ♪

OFFICER:
This is a false compartment.

Right here.

There you go.

SUPERVISORY AGENT REGGIE:
They tie either a string or a wire,

whatever they can get their hands on.

When it gets to its final destination,

they know that that’s the string
attached to the very first bundle

and then they just start pulling
the string and all the bundles fall out.

OFFICER:
That’s it?

OFFICER:
Yeah, that’s it.

OFFICER [off screen]:
Cocaine. Positive for cocaine.

SUPERVISORY AGENT REGGIE:
They extracted 10 silver-wrapped bundles

that tested positive for cocaine.

26.14 pounds.

We'll present that to the attorneys
and then we'll take it from there,

whether they wanna
move forward with prosecution

or turn it over to the state.

Every time we see cars with compartments,

instead of just taking 'em away,
we let them go,

so we can, actually,
get 'em with ill*gal goods.

We can always take the car away,
but why not get it with the goods in it?