Original subtitles

On this episode of Drug Wars, law enforcement in Puerto Rico is still

for a possible drug package arriving on a ferry from the Dominican Republic.

You can't see too many boats here.

In Panama, the relentless drug trade has devastating effects.

An ex -gang member, Pastor Ricky, is determined to break the cycle of

Not too far, Panama police units are on the hunt for a gang known for robbing

drug smugglers.

America's public enemy number one is drug abuse.

The decades -long war on drugs is a constant battle.

Drugs are menacing our society. With the growing demand in the United States,

cartels are moving an endless supply of drugs.

Positive for cocaine.

Fusion is taking you inside the drug war. To the front lines of Operation

Martillo. a multinational counter -narcotics operation.

In just three months, we witnessed over 15 tons of drug seizures, totaling over

$800 million.

This is Drug Wars.

On the previous episode, a popular ferry traveling from the Dominican Republic

resumes its service after three months, putting Puerto Rico customs officers on

high alert for possible drug smuggling.

Supervisor Figueroa was tipped off about possible smuggling.

Several passengers have been questioned, but nothing has come up.

In vehicle inspection, a canine dog sniffs out a green pickup truck and

for possible drugs.

Now, officers believe they're onto something.

Right now we're just inspecting the undercarriage. We're just looking for

type of tampering and bolts.

Sometimes they just remove the bolt, they just put mud on it so they can hide

that they've been tampered.

Something in the bed of the truck catches their attention.

You can't see too many bolts here.

This one right here looks...

Completely different from the one on the tail here.

With signs of possible tampering, officers decide to take the tailgate

If you put the cover here, you have this whole area right here, so you can fit

plenty in there.

But like I said, this is the back area where the dogs actually hid on it, so

that's why we're taking more time here.

This boat here looks like they've been tampered too, though.

Previously on Drug Wars.

Panamanian police captured two smugglers who claimed they were robbed by

tumbadores. These are modern -day bandits who steal from smugglers.

After interrogating the suspects, they get a description of the drug gang.

Police call in their special forces unit to investigate a dangerous zone.

This inner battle over drugs continues to create tension between the Colombian

cartels doing business through Panama and the country's local gangs who fear

outsiders stepping on their territory.

The next day, after the night operation, police director is briefed about the

possible location of the stolen 200 kilos.

They believe it's hidden in a stash house in San Miguelito, a gang

neighborhood.

A dozen officers from the Special Forces Unit head out to San

Miguelito to raid the stash house.

Tumbadores gangs are notorious for violence and have had some deadly

confrontations with police in the past.

As the team drives up to the Thash house, a sentinel runs in to warn the

Now that the team has lost the element of surprise, the risk of a deadly

confrontation is very real.

Drug gangs are well armed and have no regard for local police.

to realize that they had firearms, this obviously facilitates our work because

we already know what we are facing.

As drugs flow north through Panama, drug cartels use local gangs as security.

Now, over 200 gangs fight for dominance.

Gangs have escalated to organized crime, terrorizing the streets with violence

and drug dealing.

Local gang members are now becoming drug robbers, or tumbadores, who steal drugs

from smugglers.

This is fueled by a turf war as Colombian cartels move more merchandise

Panama than before.

Panama's National Naval and Air Service fight drug traffickers in both sea and

air, while UFEG, the elite special forces unit of the Panamanian police,

operates in high -risk urban missions, mostly related with cartels and gang

wars.

The narco traffic affects the local population because drugs fuel violence.

It fuels gangs.

It fuels organized crime.

It fuels money laundering.

And you're going to have those types of crime if you have drug trafficking in

your community.

The latest surge in drug activity in Panama has made its capital one of the

ten highest murder rates in the world.

Rafa, a local in Panama City, works for Sanan.

documenting their efforts against this epidemic.

In addition to his job in the Senan press office

covering drug missions, he also volunteers in the slums, making regular

to the neighborhood kids.

His own close encounters with gang violence have motivated him to help stop

bloodshed.

Panama slums are a clear reflection of the severity of the country's drug

traffic. Rafa, who does press for Sanan, Panamadera Navy, is familiar with the

poverty and violence in the streets.

Today, he's visiting a local neighborhood to check up on the kids

following.

We enter El Chorillo.

This area is commonly known for drug gangs and overcrowded project housing.

Most of the kids here have worked for the gangs or dealt drugs already.

Their parents are either in jail, or dead.

There is no hard data to show, but most of the kids that Rafa encounters in the

neighborhood he works in are orphans.

of weapons, of violence, drugs.

He wants to behave well.

During Rafa's visit, he realizes the area is getting hot.

He sees too much gang activity and decides it's best for us to leave.

At the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Customs and Border Protection officers

have been on the lookout for a drug package arriving from the Dominican

on this popular ferry.

After a canine gave signs of detecting drugs in a green pickup truck, officers

decided to take apart the whole vehicle.

So far, they've found nothing. This boat here looks like a...

Upon lifting the bed of this pickup truck, officers finally hit the jackpot.

It appears to be four bricks of cocaine, but officers need to verify.

Right now the passenger brought the vehicle in, but he's been holding one of

rooms here.

Right now we just performed a field test.

Actually came out positive for cocaine.

So roughly we're talking about four kilos, which is, a kilo is almost, what,

.2 pounds?

Roughly we had eight to nine pounds of cocaine.

Vehicle will be seized and person will be under arrest now.

CBP quickly detain and interrogate the suspect.

He finally confesses of being approached in the Dominican Republic and paid to

bring drugs over.

Since they don't know if this case is related to the previous alert over at

passenger inspection area, Supervisor Figueroa will keep the team

searching for the drug package as passengers go through customs.

We didn't encounter any contraband, at least not today.

Every day is a different story, every day is a different situation, so we're

going to be here.

Back in vehicle inspections, it's a good bust.

The four kilos of cocaine have a U .S. street value of an estimated $180 ,000.

In this case, the smuggler arrested will serve no less than five years in prison

and a minimum of 10 years if he has a history of drug trafficking. We'll keep

doing our job, and we will get the drugs that are coming in.

Good job, Orlando.

Just another day in drug wars.

Back in the gang -dominated slums of Panama, Rafa continues to show how drug

trafficking and violence have affected the poorest neighborhoods and their

families.

Our next stop is Embarraza. This area houses many gangs that move drugs

throughout the city. On the streets, gang members say that one of the ways to

escape the gangster life is through religion.

Pastors often become saviors, but they also put their lives at risk, and

have paid dearly.

Panama police rely on

pastors as another soldier in the war against drugs.

Pastor Ricky grew up in Barraza.

He knows this area well.

He himself spent time in prison for murder, stealing, and dealing drugs.

After serving his jail time, he devoted his life to religion.

Now gang members see him as a tough pastor who is not afraid to confront the

gang.

My job is to take care of the area of gang groups,

young people in prison, young people with drug problems. Basically, that is

role as a pastor.

In this case, we are looking for, in some way, how to get these children,

young people, out of that bond where that cycle of drugs moves through,

obviously, the word of God, the religious part.

I was seduced by this type of activities that were seen within those that

surrounded me in the neighborhood. Basically, I didn't realize when I was

already involved in what was this drug trafficking, what was a grave of drugs,

and this type of activity that one carried the other.

Panamanian police locate the drug house where a narco gang known for robbing

smugglers could be stashing the 200 kilos they stole.

We're going to neutralize the two children.

We have information.

that Ichi and Loquillo stayed here. We found them. There we can see part of the

drug that was the product of the grave.

Look at my face. Are you Ichi?

Where is the other drug? Where is the drug?

Tell me. Where is the drug?

Speak to me and tell me. They took it away. They took it away. Where?

Where did they take it?

They took it away. It's on the border. It's not here.

With the suspects now in custody, police realize the drugs seized are nowhere

near the 200 kilos they were expecting.

Tumbadores gangs know they have a limited amount of time to sell the

drugs before police or a rival gang comes after them.

Police know they're not the only ones after the drugs,

so finding the stash house quickly is the key to making a solid bust.

The rest of the drugs were probably sold hours after they were stolen and are

most likely on their way north by now.

Police now

hope the two suspects arrested will lead them to more info on how the gang

operates, possible buyers, informants, and even intel on rival gangs.

But police are still confident the operation was a success, with 85 kilos

and no injuries during the bus.

As the drug runners from Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia continue to use Panama as a

main drug route, it is estimated that over 30 ,000 cases of robbery and theft,

along with 700 homicides, are reported each year in Panama, all related to drug

trafficking.

On the next episode of Drug Wars...

Pastor Ricky takes some serious risks and confronts some of Panama's most

dangerous gang leaders.

And in the Pacific

Ocean, the U .S. Coast Guard responds to fresh intel about three vessels

suspected of smuggling drugs.

I'll contact the Caribbean Air and Marine Branch and let them know we have

track of interest in the system.

Plus, high -tech radar spots a group of narcos in the middle of a smuggling

operation in the Caribbean.