All language subtitles for Drug Wars s01e03

On this episode of Drug War, Panamanian
police race to stop

smugglers heading for Costa Rica.

And the USS Rance heads to the Pacific
on new intel.

My hope is we come through the canal and
they get an immediate vector to go get

bad guys.

But first, they must cross the Panama
Canal.

The whole time we're trying to keep the
ship off the two concrete barriers that

has no rubber on it and nothing to help
me but us.

The war on drugs is now in its fifth
decade.

Dealed by the men in the United States,
it continues to generate billions for

the cartels.

For three months, fusion embedded with
the men and women who do it every day.

and they gave us an unprecedented look
inside a new international anti

-narcotics operation. While we were
there, the operation seized $400 million

worth of pure cocaine.

This is Drug Wars.

In Panama, a SWAT team is on a manhunt
for a local gang leader.

The intel came from three Colombian
traffickers arrested after a manhunt.

The Colombians gave up the buyer, a gang
member called El Topo.

Panamanian intelligence linked him to
narco -trafficking gangs in Panama.

Regular police don't patrol these
streets.

This is a risky mission for the SWAT
team.

that they have given us, that they have
trusted us to bring as a consequence the

capture of both illicit substances and
the people involved in this smuggling.

SLL means black blood.

They are dedicated to the smuggler.

Other organizations hire them to kill
their enemies or for any job of

that they need.

Also to take care of drugs,

what is drug sales, all this.

Here we can see the message that they
send to the police.

They hate us, as you could say.

Here we are going to talk to a neighbor
to see how the area is.

Don't worry, no robberies.

No,

don't be sad.

The SWAT team captain asked our cameras
to stay behind.

It's very hard to get anyone to talk to
the police.

much less with cameras around.

A few minutes later, the officer rejoins
the group.

He says he was able to get crucial intel
on El Topo's whereabouts.

But the patrol car fails to meet them.

The team is stranded, exposed, and
drawing unwanted attention.

In a previous episode of Drug Wars, the
crew on the USS Rance were about to make

their first bust of the season.

But the boat turned out to be legit.

Delta, 1 .7 is no.

I do not recommend boarding.

Roger. This operation for this specific
craft is over.

We'll recover the team. We'll recover
our guys.

Get the boat back on board and proceed
on whatever the following task may have

for us.

As it turned out, new intel soon came
in, and Central Command ordered Lantier

and his crew to the Pacific.

But first, they have to cross the Panama
Canal.

I'm expecting us to get turned on to
active cases pretty quickly. My hope is

come through the canal and I get an
immediate vector to go get back at us.

14 ,000 ships transit the canal every
year.

That's almost two ships per hour every
day.

Right now, they're backed up and short
on tugs.

Lance here is on his own.

It's 108 foot wide, and I'm 47 foot
wide. That gives me about 25 foot on

side. That's not a lot of room.

It's looking good. Yeah, we're coming
over.

No, we're good.

We can see. We're on the right side now.
We're good.

You're perfect.

The Panamanian pilot arrives on board to
assist, but it's up to Lance here and

his navigators to get them through.

So I'm watching the buoy.

I'm watching the shipping.

I'm watching the ranges, and I'm
listening to you.

No boom.

No crash.

No bang.

If I need us to come right along, I will
tell them that. But the one that's

driving the whole problem for me is my
navigator. He's got the chart.

He's spotting fixes as we go.

And what he's plotting is how far left
and right am I drifting and what my set

is. So he's having a set and drift, and
he's giving corrective coursing the

entire time to keep us either in the
center or to the right.

You have to basically hold a ship that
wants to twist to port at slow speed off

of both sides of the pier.

So to say it's challenging is an
understatement.

In Panama City, a SWAT team is stranded
in one of the city's most dangerous

neighborhoods.

After talking to an informant, the
officers fear the gang might come after

Finally, the patrol unit arrives.

Once out of danger, the SWAT team
reports that El Topo was spotted

leaving in a vehicle.

possibly making a run -up to Costa Rica.

The police begin to set up roadblocks as
quickly as possible.

For us, it is very important that the
checkpoint is surprising.

They are most likely to be leaving in a
vehicle from Chumical to the outskirts

of Veracruz. So, they are pending here
at this checkpoint.

The descriptions we have are two people
in black T -shirts, one person in white

T -shirts, thin.

We don't know the descriptions of the
vehicle, but we know that one of them is

armed.

The police do what they can, but without
a description of the car, they think El

Topo may have already eluded them.

Meanwhile, the rent is on her way to the
Pacific, where a new case is in the

works. But her crew can't rush this
canal crossing.

We are going to get as close as we can
to that port side wall about still

maintaining in the middle. That's about
that 25 -foot area we're talking about

to either side.

Lanthier's crew guides the rents to the
first lock, beginning a painstaking 10

-hour journey across Panama.

The other issue is just a constant, you
know, kind of fight with the ship and

the current because there's a little bit
of rip current he's telling me about

here that we need to watch.

The only source of propulsion on the
rents is one propeller at the rear of

ship.

There are no bow thrusters.

Nothing to help steer or rotate the ship
quickly.

For land here, it means every move has
to be calculated at least 100 yards in

advance.

Speed over ground.

We'll be a long night. We won't be done
until probably 3 o 'clock in the morning

or so. We'll be tired by that point.

They got us here. They got us here.
We'll wait for the lines from there.

So now they're going to start pulling
us.

There's only feet to spare on each side.

But finally, the Panamanians hook the
ship up to mules.

All mules are tensioned.

These electric trains will guide them
safely through the canal.

It'll be another seven hours and two
more crew rotations before the rent hits

the Pacific.

Not far from the rents in Panama City,
the police have been setting up

roadblocks throughout the night, hoping
to catch a drug trafficker known as El

Topo.

Panama officials estimate that some 25
tons of drugs move by land from Panama

Costa Rica every year.

The roadblocks go on for hours with no
luck.

Major Gill and his team think someone
may have tipped off El Topo.

Panama SWAT teams led by Major Gill set
up surprise roadblocks.

They're acting on a tip with few
details.

They think of calling off the operation
until their luck suddenly changes.

I heard a scream from a tire, a brake,
and I heard it from a place that had no

exit.

Major Gill and his team wonder if this
is just a stolen car.

not their target.

It looks like this may be El Topo's car
after all.

Major Gil says local gangs in Panama
have become very powerful, working with

Mexican and Colombian cartels. But it's
not just local gangs.

According to intelligence reports, the
Gulf cartel, Beltran Leyva, Los Zetas,

and Juarez Cartel, have all been
involved with drugs and killings in

The crew on the Wrens have just cleared
the Panama Canal and are now in Pacific

waters, waiting for orders from command.

Wren, this is Comfort Fleet over.

There may be a big shipment tonight on
the move south towards Columbia.

We've got a pending case right now we're
going out on. We think it could become

an active and targeted case very
quickly.

So as soon as we get clear of the Subaru
here, we'll move in high speed.

One Bravo GTE online maximum available
at 35 knots.

Our job is that we go out here, find
them, and once we find them, stop them.

On their way out to deeper waters, the
engine suddenly shuts down.

The rent is actually on her final
voyage.

At 30 years old, she'll be
decommissioned in San Diego at the end

deployment, so not everything is as
reliable as hoped.

Yeah, I've got a 30 -year -old ship. Got
it.

And in the last two years, we've done a
lot of work to keep the ship up.

Right now, the engine won't start.

The engineers have to figure out what's
wrong

and fat.

We traced it down to there was not
enough voltage going into our spark

Now, the entire mission depends on the
engineering team.

They have to scramble to replace the
cable, or they'll be out of commission

tonight's operation, or maybe even
longer.

We've had a casualty to one of our
engines, and we need a part to get the

fixed.

Most of these parts are having to fail
on the engine, especially on a shifted

stage. They're not readily kept in the
stock system on the ship because they

don't normally fail.

I have to place this order. We are
already on satellite phone.

Up here on the O3 level is actually the
best spot to actually make a phone call.

If you try calling another place, a lot
of times the infrastructure gets in the

way of the signal.

Hi, this is Lieutenant Manolo with the
USS Rent.

I'm calling to place a CASREF mill strip
order for a Category 3 CASREF, please.

You're telling me that this part is not
in stock in any of the warehouses in the

supply system?

Check to see if it's on any other
storerooms in the fleet.

Oh, okay.

Wow. All right, so this party isn't even
available on any of the other ships.

In Panama, Major Gill and his team
captured a van stocked with hidden drugs

they believe belongs to a local gang
member and drug trafficker, El Topo.

that use the different criminal
organizations to try to make fun of the

authorities.

We can see the work they do in the
vehicles in order to be able to make

their double funds.

The strategy of the criminal groups is,
when they are already on the ground, to

go to Central America to later reach
their most precious market, which is the

United States.

Critics say these kinds of small busts
don't scratch the surface.

But Major Gil disagrees.

In 2012, Panama's Ministry of Public
Security estimated that up to 7 ,500

belonged to gangs affiliated with
cartels.

The USS Rents is dead in the water with
an engine failure.

They're on an active case and need to
find a replacement part fast.

Oh, okay.

Wow. All right, so this part isn't even
available on any of the other ships.

What I'm afraid of right now is since
it's not available, Priority Material

Office may have to go out and do an
emergency buy. The issue with that is if

part is not readily available on the
shelf of the actual company that makes

it could be a long time if they have to
manufacture it. Lead time can be, you

know, a couple hundred days.

Basically, we would not be able to
continue our counter and our product

if we do not hit this part.

One of the challenges being down here in
Fourth Fleet, this area of the world,

unlike any other fleet in doing this
mission, is we don't have any forward

operating bases down here. So anytime we
need a part for an emergent repair, it

takes quite a bit of coordination to get
it out to us.

What I want to do is go catch bad guys.
And so we want to get fixed

and we want to get back out on mission
very quickly, knowing we're the only

asset down here.

On the next episode of Drug Wars.