All language subtitles for Border.Force.Americas.Gatekeepers.S07E12.1080p.WEB.h264-CODSWALLOP[EZTVx.to]

The San Ysidro Port of Entry is the
busiest land border crossing in the

Western Hemisphere.

Every day, 90,000 people pass through
it. Are you bringing back anything from

Mexico?

No fruits or vegetables, alcohol,
tobacco today?

No, not today?

All right.

Officers have the authority to question
and stop any traveler.

Do you mind opening the trunk?

Being here at the border, it's not like
civilian police department where you're

going to need a little bit more to go
inside the vehicle.

We have border search authority.

This afternoon, a woman and her friend
returning from Mexico have been selected

for a routine check.

Not long before the canine.

leads Officer Bumpus to an area under
the hood.

So my dog was alerting under the
vehicle, like towards the front end of

the vehicle.

So we're checking it out right now.

That's exactly where he was going.

And it's a solid view.

Front end behind the tire.

Scrolled all the way from the back to
the front.

But I can't find anything.

Up there.

Yep.

Talk him up.

A secret compartment is stuffed full of
what looks like prescription medication.

You found something.

My mother are gonna be taken down we
have to do what we have to do

Not

to ever find attention

On any given day, there are over 2
million outstanding arrest warrants for

wanted criminals in the U.S.

Everyone returning from Mexico

is subject to a background check.

This afternoon, a woman coming home
after a day trip to Progreso has been

stopped.

So we had a pedestrian traveling from
Progreso, Mexico, and through

pedestrian, and the subject came out as
a positive for a want.

Right now, there's no information about
what crime the woman is wanted for.

Confirm the address.

In her case, I asked her if she was ever
been detained, had trouble with the law

enforcement at any time. She said no.

She said she also has family members
that work for the PD in Fort Worth,

Texas.

So that's irrelevant for us because a
human being is a human being.

Officer Maureen runs the woman's
fingerprints.

There we go. Go like this.

But keep this right here. To check that
her ID matches the warrant.

Thank you, ma'am.

Information soon comes through from the
issuing authority, which is in another

county 500 miles away.

It did confirm for an outstanding
warrant out of Gainesville, Texas, for

larceny, which was inputted back in
November of last year.

Okay, now, get that back.

You can put your shoes on right here and
then give your items to your husband

right now.

While they wait to find out whether
Gainesville PD wants to arrest her,

Officer Maureen allows the woman to
speak with her husband.

Sir, your wife?

You may speak to her if you need to. She
wanted to give you the belongings.

So did the supervisor speak to you
already?

So here's the thing, okay?

She came out as a positive for a
warrant, an outstanding warrant out of

Gainesville, Texas.

For what?

For larceny.

For that?

Okay. Okay.

She says she's in Gainesville. She
doesn't have anything.

We live in Fort Worth. We have no
business in Gainesville. We don't do

anything in Gainesville. Like I'm
saying, you have a job. Do you work?

Yes. Okay, so you do your job. We're
just doing our job. That's it. We're

going back.

I understand completely.

Right. Our whole family is police
officers, Fort Worth Police Department.

Right. She informed me about that. This
is not a typical MO for someone that's

going to commit a crime. We've seen
everything in occupation title that's

irrelevant to who gets arrested and who
doesn't. I understand. But I understand

where you're coming from. I'm just
letting you know this is your

opportunity to speak to her right now.

I was reading her body language, and he
was like, kind of like, what? And she

was like, the check.

At the San Ysidro crossing.

The front end behind the tire.

Oh, there it is. Yep.

Hook them up.

A woman and her friend returning to the
U.S. have been detained.

After a search of their vehicle,
uncovered medication hidden in the

dashboard.

Should be an airbag in here.

So an officer pulled this up, and
there's a bunch of medicine back in

here. The contraband consists of packets
of diet pills.

and bottles of medicated shampoo.

The two women entered the border in the
fast

lane, used only for pre-vetted drivers
holding a sentry pass.

The amount smuggled in is assigned to
Supervisor Walker.

It's not for personal use.

What they do is they try and take this
medication, probably to a swap meet, and

try to resell it for probably a little
bit more than what they bought it for in

Mexico.

And that's obviously not authorized.
That's why they're hiding it.

So we'll go ahead and seize their
medicine.

The car is taken to a secure area where
Officer Roque will carry out a thorough

search.

Dashboards are pretty common concealing
methods. People just create these little

areas to hide stuff so they can smuggle
things through.

This right here is like people use for
weight loss. It's a schedule for

controlled substance.

I think these people use it for like
weight loss and different things, or at

least I hope it's just for that.

This weight loss drug is popular in
Mexico, but not approved for use in the

U.S.

creating a black market for smuggled
pill.

I don't know how much more is in here,
so I'll have to check in the dashboard

and see if there's anything else hidden
anywhere else.

Shampoo? I guess it's some sort of
medical shampoo. I have no idea.

I don't know if it's in under here. Oh,
it is.

Yeah, so it's all in here, too.

So I'll have to open all this up.

Every day, around 10,000 people cross
the Camino Real bridge.

Among the travelers are pacateros,
unofficial couriers carrying goods

across the southern border.

Although lucrative work, it comes with a
risk

because the drivers are rarely aware of
what they're bringing in.

Yeah, we want to scan all of this.

Today, a courier entering into Mexico
with a trailer has been sent to

secondary inspection.

This driver was coming from Houston,
headed to Guanajuato, Mexico.

We selected him because he had a lot of
merchandise that he's taking to Mexico

for other people.

The Mexican drug cartels are known to
hide cash and guns in Pacatero's cargo.

Suspicious that the trailer may contain
contraband, officers put the whole

shipment through an X-ray machine.

Nothing yet.

But it's not long before the X-ray

reveals a suspicious outline.

And it looks like we have one firearm
and some ammunition in this box.

It looks like we have the firearm here
and ammunition in this boot.

The man is immediately detained.

While Officer Ruiz examines the
concealment method.

Could be for the x-ray.

Could be for the canine.

Try to hide the smell or the odor of the
firearm.

That way our canine doesn't hit on it.

But in this case, we were able to locate
it using the x-ray.

Because Mexico has strict laws
preventing the purchase of guns, every

year around 150,000 firearms are
smuggled into the country by criminal

gangs.

So the gentleman's claiming that he
didn't know about the firearm.

One, he can be facing charges.

His vehicle can be seized. There's a lot
of different scenarios, but right now we

have to wait for HSI to see if they're
going to want to do further

investigation on this or take him from
there.

Smuggling a hidden weapon.

is a serious crime.

Homeland Security Investigations will
question the man further to decide

whether to prosecute.

You can step out.

You can put your shoes on.

In progresso.

A woman returning home from a day trip
to Mexico has been detained because she

has a warrant out for larceny.

Whenever she had the opportunity to give
her belongings to her husband, she was

trying to whisper something to him.

I was reading her body language, and he
was kind of like, what? And she was

like, the check.

Was that check that you're talking about
in November?

We had a contractor that worked for us.

23? 22, 23.

That's the only check. We had a
contractor that worked for us.

The couple paid a man to do some work on
their property.

They wrote a check, which bounced.

That would be a simple thing. It
wouldn't be charged larceny on that

because it wasn't written to a business
or anything like that. No,

no, it was to the contractor.

Thank you.

Okay, perfect. Thank you. Have a good
day.

The Hidalgo Sheriff's Office confirms
that they will be coming to arrest the

woman before extraditing her back to the
county that issued the warrant.

We only have so much information right
now when Hidalgo County arrives.

If she has any further questions,
because they're actually the ones who

are going to take over, she could ask
them.

And then she'd have to go all the way
back to Gainesville.

Like I said, they're going to answer
your questions.

Ma'am, can you give her the purse?

Sir, do you want to give her a last hug
before they pick her up, you know?

No, but I mean, as a husband and wife,
I'm pretty sure you want to give her a

hug. You know, we're human beings right
there.

An officer from Hidalgo County arrives
to make their arrest.

And they'll pick you up from our camp.
They'll take you back to cook. Okay.

Thank you,

sir. Thank you very much. How's it
going?

According to her, she never had a
criminal record, never been arrested,

never had to do a pat-down before.

But anyways, wish her the best. And
remember, learn your lesson and stay out

of trouble.

In Eagle Path, a courier has been
detained after being caught smuggling a

weapon into Mexico.

So the gentleman's claiming that he
didn't know about the firearm.

One, he can be facing charges.

His vehicle can be seized.

There's a lot of different scenarios,
but right now we have to wait for HSI to

see if they're going to want to do
further investigation on this or take

him from there.

These are 40.

And this firearm is 40 as well. So yes,
these rounds are for this pistol.

They don't check the merchandise that
they're taking into Mexico, so it makes

it easier for somebody to send something
illegal like this.

Only one pistol was found, but that
alone can be sold for hundreds of

dollars on the black market in Mexico.

We were able to seize one firearm
magazine in a total of 50 rounds, which

is a good thing for us.

Whatever reason, they were using it for
over there in Mexico.

They were exporting it illegally.

Since the courier has no prior history
and claims no knowledge of the weapon,

this time he won't face any charges.

So as of right now, HSI has deferred
prosecution.

Firearms are going to stay here in our
possession. They're going to be seized.

And the rest of the items that the
gentleman was carrying with him, he's

going to be free to go with.

But he's not completely in the clear.
New laws created to crack down on cartel

crime have recently been passed.

The form this guy just signed,
essentially the United States government

labeled the cartel a terrorist
organization. In this form, we have it

in English and Spanish.

It says if you have any affiliation and
we find out you do, the law is going to

go after you in full extent.

They read this, they sign it, we find
out through investigation that they have

any affiliation to the cartel, they're
going to jail.

By signing the form, the driver is
declaring his innocence.

But if he's lying and later found a
half-cartel link, he could then be

arrested.

It wasn't a good thing that they were
having this firearm hidden within these

containers, so it wasn't a good thing we
were able to get it.

In San Diego...

Two women have been detained after a
search of their car revealed a hidden

compartment stuffed full of prescription
medication.

I don't know if it's in under here.
Actually, oh, it is.

Yeah, it's all in here, too.

There's a lot more hidden than Officer
Roque initially thought.

So I'll have to open all this up.

Yeah, I thought... Actually,

it looks like it stops right here.

So, I thought it stopped right in here.

That way.

It goes all the way down.

I've never seen this before, so I'm not
sure what kind of shampoo it is.

So, I'll have to look it up.

This anti-dandruff shampoo isn't
prohibited, but bringing in large

commercial amounts without declaring it
is against the law.

I think that's all of it.

For smuggling shampoo, as well as the
diet pill. The driver of the vehicle is

facing a significant penalty, typically
three times the value of what's found.

Every pill and bottle must be counted.

All right, this might take a little
while.

So each one of these has 20, so 20 times
15 times all this is going to be a

decent amount of money.

All right, so that should be 20 right
there.

I doubt they need to lose as much
weight, so they're going to probably

sell to someone, some market somewhere
or somewhere.

A packet of diet pills bought in Mexico
for $16.

could sell for twice as much on the
black market.

But taking them comes with risks because
the pills contain the appetite

suppressant centermine and long-term use
can lead to drug dependency.

People can abuse this substance.

So people buying this off the street or
from a market somewhere or from someone,

they can be abused and it can cause
people issues. So if people are taking

too much of this medication, they can
have a serious medical condition.

In total,

11,400 pills are counted alongside 260
bottles of shampoo, adding up to a

retail value of over $10,000.

We're going to go into our office here.

Issue the penalty.

So you can make two choices. You can
either agree to pay the penalty or

contest it.

So, um, you had a bunch of medication in
your vehicle, okay?

I noticed.

So, um...

Since it's the woman's first time being
caught,

her fine is reduced to $2,500.

Despite owning the vehicle, the woman
denies all knowledge of the medication

and says she will be appealing her
charge.

Okay. Okay. That's your copy? Okay.
Okay. And then I'll get your friend,

okay? Okay.

Outside, her friend is also facing
punishment.

The loss of her trusted traveler status.

Since you're traveling with her and
you're both smuggling medication across

the border, your sentries are being
lifted.

My sentries? Yeah.

Since you're both crossed and they're...
It wasn't my fault.

Her vehicle had a lot of concealed
medication, so she was issued a penalty

and all medication that was concealed
within the vehicle was seized. I don't

have your friend.

You don't understand that there was
medication concealed within your

dashboard. We're informing you right now
that there was medication within the

vehicle.

Yes, and we're telling you right now
that there was medication within the

vehicle. You're good to go, okay?

This woman has escaped a heavy fine, but
both travelers have lost their sentry

cards, adding hours to their future
border crossings.

The Camino Real Bridge links the city of
Eagle Pass with Piedras Negras, Mexico.

I'm just looking at the natural voids
that these pickups have, but this one

right now looks good.

Officers stay vigilant for signs of
anything unusual or suspicious.

We have to process vehicles.

you know, in a timely manner. But then
also you have to, you know, realize

which ones are kind of iffy or you don't
like the story or something.

So really the officers only have, you
know, less than a minute, sometimes less

than 30 seconds to process a vehicle,
right? So that's one of the challenges

that our officers face.

Even at midnight, the cars are still
streaming in, and the driver with a

missing front license plate heading to
Mexico has been flagged for further

inspection.

We didn't have a front plate, so that
was my first issue with it.

Once I stopped it, I saw he had multiple
boxes.

Boxes are typically what we call here in
Cargos, or they're taking parcels or

packages on behalf of somebody else from
Mexico.

The man has also told Officer Figueroa
that the pickup belongs to someone else.

The man's claim to be driving his
friend's truck across the border while

he has dinner raises more questions for
Officer Figueroa.

The man's story isn't adding up.

A discrepancy

in the vehicle's registration papers is
yet another red flag.

He's the owner.

He's telling me that his friend's name,
which is the owner of the vehicle, is

Alfonso. So that doesn't match.

With growing doubts over who actually
owns the vehicle and its cargo, officers

begin to suspect the driver could be
carrying out illicit activity for a

cartel. Stand by.

They will need to search the car for
further clues.

The Ambassador Bridge links Windsor,
Canada with Detroit, Michigan.

Every day, almost $320 million worth of
goods from Canada cross in trucks bound

for the U.S.

How you doing, sir? Good afternoon.

Officers are always on the lookout for
anything illegal entering the country.

I'm going to send you to registry, okay?
So what you're going to do is...

You're going to stay to your right, go
around, and then you're going to see a

sign for x-rays.

Including agricultural items that could
be carrying insects and pests harmful to

U.S. crops.

All right, just come right over here
with me.

Right over here, sir.

I'm going to have you bring your truck,
pop your steel, open your door, and back

all the way to door number four. Door
number four. Okay. All right, perfect.

Today.

Agriculture specialist Garza is carrying
out a series of plot checks on inbound

trucks. He's called in container full of
flowers.

Today we're going to be looking at some
plants, plant commodities. We're going

to be looking for live mites, slugs,
snails, plant diseases.

These species can be harmful to
America's agriculture.

We're trying to do our best to safeguard
that.

Even though these flowers have come from
a pest-controlled greenhouse in Canada,

there could still be bugs hidden within.

Maybe we can find anything here.

Using his flashlight, Officer Garza
begins the first step of his inspection.

He focuses on a cross-section of the
shipment.

I don't see anything so far.

Any track marks, any bite marks, or
anything just that stands out out of the

normal, it's not always guaranteed that
it's going to be a pest-free

plant.

So that's why it's always good just to
check, do a visual inspection, a

thorough visual inspection on these.

So there's something right over here.

It's a little bitty thing.

If the insect Officer Garza has spotted
turns out to be an invasive species, the

entire shipment will be refused entry
into the U.S., costing the shipper

thousands of dollars.

In Eagle Pass, a driver has been stopped
when attempting to cross from the U.S.

into Mexico.

He admits he doesn't own the car he's
driving,

but the name he's given as the owner
doesn't correlate with the vehicle's

registration.

The name that the driver provided
doesn't match the paperwork that he gave

me on the title of the vehicle, nor the
insurance.

He claims he's transporting the truck
and boxes for a friend, but officers

suspect he's being used by a cartel.

So that's why I'm still not satisfied
with whatever is going with this vehicle

right now.

So we'll unload everything, scan it
through, do a physical inspection of the

vehicle, make sure everything is good.

Nine times out of ten, the people
that...

are taking these items to Mexico. They
don't inspect the stuff.

And the people take advantage of that to
try to hide contraband, weapons, ammo,

money, things like that.

He's responsible for everything that's
in the vehicle.

So if we get to find something, it's his
fault.

Large TV.

Hey, Figueroa.

So far, no anomalies.

This is the golden nugget.

These compressors are famous for having
stuff inside that's not supposed to be.

But not this time.

Clean.

The load is given the all clear, but
drug cartels are known to hide

contraband inside a vehicle's bodywork.

The pickup is sent for an x-ray.

10-4, stand by.

Jacob? 20-20.

20-20?

See what dark masses we see in the back
of the compartment and where it's

supposed to lie.

Nothing suspicious is spotted within the
truck, but Officer Rodriguez sees

something else unusual.

The vehicle plate is filled with a
plastic film which covers up your

license plate. You won't be able to read
it.

It's got a film on it.

Hi.

It's going to have a plastic film on the
numbers.

They're somewhere here.

Once the vehicle went through, the
license plate reader didn't pick up the

license plate. When you see the picture
of the license plate reader, it's all

blacked out.

has been deliberately tampered with to
stop the car from being tracked by

vehicle recognition cameras.

This concealment and the driver not
knowing the car's real owner are all

signs that the vehicle might be stolen.

In Detroit, a shipment of flowers from
Canada has been sent for inspection.

To enter the U.S., all plants must be
free of any harmful pests that can

damage crops.

So there's something right over here.

It's a little bitty thing.

Officer Garza thinks he may have spotted
an insect in the plants, so he wants to

carry out a more detailed inspection on
some of the flowers.

So we'll just get a sample of
everything.

Mix it all in there.

And this is just for micro-sized
insects, organisms that we may find.

If it's not admissible, then the truck
gets rejected back to Canada, and it

will be given an emergency action notice
to be re-delivered and be fumigated for

these bugs.

So that's one pile right there.

Even insects not seen by the naked eye
can carry diseases.

To catch these microscopic creatures,
Officer Garza uses a special kit.

This is what's known as Berlaci funnels.

They're just heat lamps.

That releases all the moisture from the
plant, so all the bugs, insects,

anything like that will fall down this
funnel, and we'll put a little tray full

of alcohol.

And they would all fall down there, and
then from there we'll collect the

samples that we find.

So what we're going to do now is we're
going to juice these containers up,

filling it up with alcohol so all the
animal or any little insects that fall

into here will stay in there.

So all we're going to do here is just
stuff our Berlaci funnel.

Turn this on just like that and put it
right over.

And it will give these about 30, 40
minutes.

That's where it could dry up completely
and let all that organisms fall through.

As the plants dry out, Officer Garza
inspects one last plant sample looking

for bugs.

What we can do here is just try to
shake, see if anything comes out. In

2024, almost 80,000 citations were
issued to commercial vehicles crossing

with contaminated produce, preventing...

Millions of dollars worth of damage to
U.S. agriculture.

A deprimental insect coming into the
United States could be as harmful as any

drug shipments found.

So it's always good just to check.

Like the slogan says, don't pack a pest.

So far, nothing has been discovered.

But if anything suspicious is found in
the Berlazi funnels, then all the

flowers will be returned.

See what we got.

So these have been on for about 20, 30
minutes for now.

There's that set.

So yeah, there are some mites, but like
I said, they're microscopic, so these

are not actionable.

The search has found only harmless
mites.

Let's go ahead and check this one right
here.

Some mites, all that little bunched up.

The mites that will be found here will
be microscopic.

So this shipment is good to go. Release
them and we'll let them down the road.

These plants are coming from a Canadian
greenhouse.

They did a good job cleaning and making
sure that they're pesticide free.

The dry verandas flowers are clear to
continue on their journey.

I'll make somebody's mom or dad happy
with these flowers.

In Eagle Pass, a driver crossing into
Mexico with a suspicious truck has been

stopped. Officers have discovered the
license plate has been tampered with.

They get concealed with a plastic film
which covers up your license plate. You

won't be able to read it.

It's got a film on it.

Here in Eagle Pass, we have a lot of
tendencies of vehicles going outbound.

They are stolen.

These type of trucks, they're used a lot
by the cartels.

They use it for type of payment or for
doing their crimes over there in Mexico.

Concerned the vehicle might be stolen.

Officers decide to run a check on its
serial number, known as the VIN.

You've got to identify the VIN to make
sure it matches the VIN on the

windshield. Criminals sometimes
fraudulently change the VIN marked on a

vehicle's exterior to mask its theft.

The machine that we have, that we
connected to that port, and we can

actually look for the original VIN
number that's embedded within the

program of the computer. If it doesn't
match...

then you probably have a stolen vehicle.

This time, the vehicle identification
number is a match and the car hasn't

been reported as stolen.

With questions remaining about the car's
ownership, officers ask

the driver to call his friend.

He admits he doesn't own the car either.

He says he was paid to pick it up in
Indiana and take it south.

Officer Figueroa now suspects the man
has been asked to drive over a newly

purchased car that hasn't been declared
to customs officials.

The person, he didn't give me a name,
the person who had the vehicle over in

upstate Indiana.

Tell them to bring it down.

The thing is, yes, you can export a
vehicle to Mexico. There's no issues

with it, but there's a process.

And that process starts with us. As U.S.
Customs and Border Protection, you have

to bring it for exportation 72 hours
prior of the vehicle exiting through a

port of entry into another country.

By not declaring the car, the owner was
trying to avoid all the paperwork. But

now, the vehicle and its contents are
being impounded.

The driver is free to go.

On foot, he won't face any charges for
helping out a friend.

So right now, everything's going to
Eagle Path PD in Paola. And tomorrow,

the person who's the owner of everything
can get in contact with the

investigators in Eagle Path PD so he can
retrieve all his belongings.