Original subtitles

On this episode of Drug Wars, the U .S. Coast Guard encounters a Ponga -style

boat floating in the middle of the Pacific that raises suspicion.

The cutter then spots a fishing vessel suddenly veering away from international

waters, causing Panamanian drug enforcement to join the mission.

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 of Drug Wars, the U .S. Coast Guard, assigned to

patrolling the Pacific, received reliable intel about two panga boats and

fishing vessel coordinating a major drug transfer in the area.

But after closely inspecting two possible targets, they come out empty

A few hours later in the day, Coast Guard officers spot another panga boat

floating in the middle of nowhere.

happened to spot this panga or starboard bow at a distance of 500 yards.

Upon initial inspection of it through the binoculars, we were able to

that it had Ecuadorian nationality. However, we were not able to determine a

name on the vessel.

The abandoned boat quickly raises suspicions.

Either the crew was tossed overboard by accident or smugglers transferred the

drugs and left it behind.

We're going to be launching a small boat to go up alongside it and see if we can

get any serial numbers or any identifying marks to help correlate what

may be if it's assimilated with another cave.

I'd like to see if there's any kind of contraband or indications of a possible

search and rescue case off them.

Not knowing what to expect, officers carefully approach the empty boat. So we

found what appears to be a Colombian or Ecuadorian flag on the bow.

Most likely it's Ecuadorian since the vessel registration number matches what

Ecuador has in its database.

Cartels use these types of boats to move drugs onto larger vessels, known as

motherships, which then continue on a longer voyage.

This could be such a case.

Still,

the Coast Guard hopes to find clues as to what went down.

Found 12 fuel drums. Six of them were full. Six of them were empty.

They found a bunch of food on board, some fishing gear.

People were definitely on there beforehand.

Officers look for distinct markings, food, soda cans, quality of fuel,

of drugs, anything that can point to where this boat came from and the

of its trip.

Yamaha Park.

We're looking for markings, registration, any sort of indication on

vessel became abandoned.

There's no fuel line connected to the engines, to the fuel tank.

We saw that the line on the bow had been severed as though it might have been

towed at one point. So no indication that anybody is around the vessel at

time.

This paper is from the 19th of August, 2014.

Officers continue building intel to determine whether this boat is one of

suspects they are looking for.

The crew heads back to the ship. If this was one of the smugglers the Coast

Guard was after, traffickers beat them to it. The drugs were already

to the fishing vessel.

So right now, we've been authorized to take it as a hazard navigation.

So we're going to do some training with the ODs and the gun crews.

We're actually going to think this through.

They actually hit the disabling fire right on the engine.

And, of course, when we went to destructive fire, they both were right

target. And now you can see it's on fire, and it's going to be taken here in

few minutes.

After finding an abandoned small boat, the U .S. Coast Guard believes the

smugglers beat them to the Ponga boat full of drugs.

The crew decides to focus their attention to suspicious fishing vessels

area, hoping they can still catch the smugglers. And that object looks like a

shoe or an oil can or a big airbrush.

The next day, Coast Guard officers spot something that may change their look.

So we've come across the vessel in a known drug transit zone, and we're

preparations to approach the vessel.

get an initial description of the vessel and what they might be involved in.

Based on their investigation, they notice it matches the description of the

fishing vessel described in the intel they received the day before.

But the fishing vessel has now made a sharp turn into

Panamanian waters.

This prevents the Coast Guard from legally searching the vessel in

waters.

1 -5 -5 at 14 on 12.

Fortunately, Operation Martillo allows U .S. forces to work with Panama, so the

cutter quickly radios Panama's National Naval Air Service for support.

Hey, Wes, can you pass us into Navy right on the right -hand side, too?

Recent multinational cooperation and joint operations have led to a surge in

drug busts, making it that much more difficult for cartels to move

Centro de Operaciones, buenas noches.

Aquí en el Centro de Operaciones Aeronavales es el centro en donde se

todas las operaciones, prácticamente es el centro de lo que es la institución y

donde se monitorea y se coordina todas las operaciones del Servicio Nacional

Aeronaval. El nombre de la embarcación, Portobelo I.

Acabamos de recibir información de parte de los guardacostas de los Estados

Unidos en la que...

U .S.

forces provide intel to Panama Sinan. The suspicious vessel is now located

of Coiva, Panama, a remote area often used by smugglers to land drugs into

Panama.

We have a situation in the south of Coiva, about 180 miles.

We have a boat called Portobelo 1.

The Americans report that they have suspicions about the illegal assistance.

From the call we make, the media, aircraft,

and boats coordinate to go to the area to attend to it.

Attention.

Continue.

While Sinan preps for the mission, the U .S. Coast Guard remains on guard to

prevent the fishing vessel from fleeing or dumping its load.

OS2,

if you please pass it to the CO.

CNN is going to be taking positive control of the boarding.

They're sending one of their helicopters right now and a small boat full of

boarding teams.

The plan right now is for them to take control of boarding, and then we'll have

our team stand by ready to assist.

And District 11, Coach Botwell, will be standing by.

Botwell out.

After missing the smugglers on the empty Ponga boat, the Boutwell hopes this

fishing vessel is the target they have intel on and leads to a major bust.

The U .S. Coast Guard got intel about several targets in the Pacific working

together on a major drug trafficking transfer operation.

Now they've found a vessel that matches the description of one of the targets

they're looking for.

But it suddenly made a turn into Panamanian waters, prompting Sinan,

air navy, to join the fight.

Back at the nun headquarters, the team preps to join the mission and suit up in

full gear.

Their target, now just a few miles from shore, is in a remote area with a

history of drug trafficking.

If the traffickers make it to land, they will flee the scene, leaving the Coast

Guard unable to pursue.

But yes, in general, we have a lot of collaboration from them.

International waters are patrolled by the United States, but in the event that

ship comes to the Panamanian territory, they warn us and we stop the ship.

This is a mutual benefit. We have been working for years with them.

Sinan has launched a helicopter and boarding team since this vessel falls

their jurisdiction.

We couldn't do this alone.

The partnerships that we've developed with other countries are critical to our

success in fighting international drug smuggling.

Sinan's helicopter finally arrives on the scene and spots the U .S. Coast

near the suspicious fishing boat.

Based on first looks, Sinan can tell this isn't a typical vessel that would

used to transport drugs in this area. Most smuggler boats are small and fast,

carrying 250 to 500 kilos of drugs.

Sinan's interceptor boat soon arrives in the area.

and head straight for the suspicious vessel before it gets any closer to

U .S. Coast Guard remains on the scene for support.

The non -units approach the fishing vessel and attempt to make contact

boarding.

The U .S. Coast Guard and Panama's National Naval Air Service have

joined forces after spotting a suspicious fishing vessel matching their

Oh, it's two.

C -9 has taken positive control of the boarding.

Could you relay to the bridge and tell them to have Luchador 2 -8, R -T -B, and

the O -T -H to stand by to assist the C -9 if necessary?

Okay, Roger that. Come on, come back. Please relay to Luchador 2 -8 to have

take control of the boarding and de -conflict the airspace.

Roger, copy and all.

Bob, I'll stand by.

Oh.

The C -9 team has arrived on scene, taking positive control of the vessel.

boarding team is just going to be standing by.

Ready to assist the Sinan if requested.

Upon

opening the

cargo doors, Sinan sees hundreds of labeled packages, all packed in the

traditional kilo brick form.

U .S. Coast Guard's intel paid off.

They believe this could be the mothership that picked up drugs from the

abandoned Pongabog.

It takes the nun a couple of hours to count all the drug packages.

They soon realize the stash is much larger than they expected.

Everything's under control. We're out.

At this time, we're calling back our boarding team to continue on with our

mission. Now that there is a good chance this fishing vessel is related to the

abandoned panga, they'll continue the mission and search for the other

panga, mentioned in their intel report.

. . . . . .

Watch out, watch out!

It will take four trips by two boats to finally get all the sacks to land.

The weight of the drug combined with the heat and rough sea conditions make this

a daunting task.

Because it's a lot.

Sometimes we're happy to find a lot, and sometimes you're happy, but then you

have to carry it.

And because of the climate, because of the humidity, and because of the heat.

Sometimes the information is a mess.

And we don't always hit the nail on the head, because in this case we hit the

nail on the head.

But out of five...

After two helicopter trips and an airplane transport, finally, all the

packages make it to Sinan base.

The packages get recounted, weighted, and tested.

All in all, the collaboration by the US and Panama resulted in the seizure of 1

,196 kilos of pure cocaine.

Collaborating with partner nation makes our job easier.

And when you're coming to an endgame interdiction or an endgame solution here

and you're getting close to territorial waters of another nation, having those

relationships already in place and agreements in place and the way you

procedures, everything from sharing information to talking on radios, having

those agreements in place and agreeing upon and having common goals to

drugs is crucial.

Since implementing these multinational operations, yearly results have

for over 300 arrests.

and the seizure of some 130 metric tons of cocaine with an estimated U .S. value

of $2 .6 billion.

Drugs are used to finance so much other criminal activity, everything from

terrorism to just violent activity.

They disable countries.

They undermine legitimate government.

A kilo of cocaine, when it makes it into the United States, can be sold as a

kilo. before it's broken down for roughly $45 ,000.

It costs about $600 to make it.

That same kilo of cocaine in Australia and Europe is valued at a quarter of a

million dollars.

Operation Martillo shows promising results in preventing huge loads of

from entering the U .S. And with larger profits to be made elsewhere, U .S.

officials hope cartels will continue to look for new markets.

I guess I'm challenging the cartels. If you're a real good businessman, you'll

send it somewhere else and leave America alone.