Original subtitles

The war on drugs is now in its fifth decade.

America's public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse.

Fueled by consumers in the United States, it continues to generate

the cartel.

For three months, Fusion embedded with the men and women fighting the modern

-day war on drugs.

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

-narcotics operation called Martillo, the ham.

While we were there, the operation seized $400 million worth of pure

This is Drug Wars.

Colombian ports are the gateways for drug exports to the United States.

The supply chain begins deep in jungle labs and reaches the coastal cities like

Uraba and Cartagena.

So the Colombian Coast Guard or Armada are the first line of defense for

We can

distribute

to Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

And the distances are short.

The decline of the major cartels in the 90s loosened their grip on power in

Colombia.

And the police are now well -organized, well -trained, and heavily armed.

But for all their firepower in the drug wars today, it often comes down to one

critical factor, informants and spies.

This agent has been working deep cover for over 15 years.

Toledo has become a trusted middleman for the cartel. He connects drugs to

overseas clients, then provides intel to U .S. and Colombian authorities.

But human intelligence also comes from

the civilian population.

And with any delivery of a ton, two tons, they felt good with 20 million

pesos that they gave them as a reward for that amount of drugs.

We received in the afternoon, in the National Army, in the Guard Coastal

of Urabá, a call to 123, in which the Guard Coastal Station was notified of a

boat.

Registered to the African city of Monrovia and Liberia, The ship is about

sail for international waters.

This tip is pretty light on details,

but the Armada officers are told it's reliable.

The contraband may be on this ship or some other nearby.

So they have little choice but to do a random search and hope to get lucky.

The patrol looks carefully at the ship's cargo manifest, and they notice

something strange about one particular container.

The cargo crew records everything.

If drugs are found, this could keep them in port for days.

An empty container seems suspicious.

But it doesn't get this investigation any closer to a bust.

In Panama, the national police are also acting on a tip. This time, about a

shipment from Colombia, possibly involving street gangs in Panama City.

We have a situation now that's most relevant in that the Colombian cartels

delivering into Central America now. And from Central America to changing hands

into the Mexican cartels for further distribution into the United States.

This shipment is coming from Las Perlas, a group of islands off the coast of

Panama.

The National Panama Police are acting on a tip about Colombian drug runners, and

according to the officials, it demands a large -scale response.

The commander has entrusted us with another mission for which they have been

summoned here.

There is intelligence information that the Pearl Archipelago, our mission in

Defensor 1 and Defensor 2 boats is to intercept that boat and neutralize its

occupants and try to recover the drugs that they carry on board.

If we don't have any other questions, then we are going to board the boats.

From the front, go!

The commander dispatches the troops for the sea operation.

But there's also a SWAT team at the ready in case the traffickers make it to

shore.

Since

they started

dealing with Colombian and Mexican cartels, Panamanian officials say the

here have become more organized and more violent.

Previously, no civilian cars could enter, no people could enter, walking,

without the criminals coming and attacking them. In other words, they had

sector completely controlled.

These areas are known as the Red Zone of San Miguelito, the

area where the greatest concentration of crimes, homicides,

robberies is maintained.

The police here rely on a system of street informants to track the gangs and

their drug trafficking.

But according to American officials, these aren't just local problems.

These organizations are destabilizing local communities, cities, even to some

extent the potential to destabilize countries.

That's why we and all of our partners are engaged in this effort to combat

Panama police also call in air support.

The team heads out to the Pacific in two boats.

one capable of chasing down high -speed targets, and the other for pursuit in

shallow waters.

According to the intelligence, this is the place to intercept the go -fast.

And almost immediately, radar picks something up a mile out.

Ufec, Defender, Ufec.

Ufec, Defender, Ufec.

Out of the darkness, a boat with three fishermen motors pass, surprised to

encounter two heavily armed police boats.

But they are allowed to pass through.

The wait continues.

After striking out with the cargo ship, the Coast Guard chases a new tip.

Another patrol hauled in suspects with a small cargo of bananas.

They think this time they've got the right boat.

But finding the drugs might not be so easy.

The police struggle to find any sign of a hidden compartment at first sight.

So they drill holes inside and start poking until something hits.

As the officer is pulling out the drill, he catches a net covered in white

substance.

A closer look at the drill bit confirms white powder.

But they need proof in the form of a field test.

If it turns blue, that's a positive ID for cocaine.

A Panama SWAT team has crossed Panama City to the suburb of Veracruz, ready

any orders from the team in the bay.

The helicopter spots a go -fast heading right for the police boats.

The go fast continues at full speed trying to outrun the police.

The GOFAST turns and heads for shore.

The two police boats split up. Only one can enter shallow waters.

The boat sank.

The three who were on board proceeded to escape through the area of Chumical.

Copy that. They proceeded to escape.

Defend the harpoon. Defend the harpoon.

The boat maintains, maintains, maintains the sack. Copy that. Maintains the

sack.

Copy that. Through the area of the village. They were mobilized through the

of the village.

They entered the village. We are going to maintain the boat safe with the load.

I maintain approximately three sacks.

We're going to wait for the competent authorities to come up with those

The land personnel is already in search of the descriptions you're giving, copy?

Copy, commander. We're going to keep the area safe until the competent

authorities come, copy?

Affirmative, that's right, that's right.

They're staying there, but the personnel I have here, we're going to the land,

brother, we're going to the land.

Copy, copy, copy.

Two men in black, one in white, fleeing to the Chumical village in Veracruz.

We were not able to activate the personnel of the special forces, since

anti -drug personnel gave an execution to a boat.

The drug traffickers managed to get to the land.

Well, the teams proceed to the sector of Titopiedra. Titopiedra, have you

located it? Have you copied it? Let's go.

Copy, copy. Copy.

While the manhunt continues in Panama, Colombian police have found some white

powder inside a detained boat.

They perform a field test.

If the test comes back blue, that means it's cocaine.

The officers confirm the presence of cocaine.

But how much are they smuggling?

The police arrest the suspects and inform them of their rights.

The police pulled a total of 32 kilos from the boat.

As for the indigenous traffickers, they will face up to 10 years in jail.

Just outside Panama City, the police are tipped off on a possible drug smuggler

hideout.

We already have the building surrounded, so we are going to proceed, depending

on the degree of aggressiveness that there is, so we are going to enter.

Team A is going to go to the right side.

Team B is going to go to the left side.

The man number one immediately enters B to the right.

Advance, advance, advance.

I can't hear you. Report, report, report.

The important thing about this operation is that we were able to capture

The men will be taken back to Panama City Police headquarters for processing.

If convicted in a Panamanian court, the Colombians captured today could get up

to 10 years in prison.

But ultimately...

Just like in the Columbian case, the key in making this bust was a so -called

human intelligence, informants.

According to officials, the newest cartels in Colombia, such as the

have transitioned into a microtrafficking strategy.

In fact, we're running them over the border in smaller lots, never more than

kilograms, sometimes as little as 20, smuggling them over small time and then

doing it all the time, all the time and building up.

We see the same thing in maritime.

We used to, years ago, have huge boats with tons and tons of cocaine on them,

but it's smaller than it was before.

Mexican cartels buying a kilo from a Colombian lab can pay up to $2 ,500 a

with 90 % purity.

By the time the same kilo hits the streets in the U .S., dealers will have

it at least three or four times, selling each kilo for about $45 ,000, reducing

its purity to about 60%. And crack cocaine has been diluted so much it

just about 10 % pure cocaine.

On the next episode of Drug Wars.

U .S. Navy Sip Wren heads out for a mission in the Pacific.

I wasn't kidding when I said we've got about 25 feet on either side.

And the Columbian Armada get a tip on a hidden drug stash.