To Catch a Smuggler

HSI agents follow a controlled delivery of meth to multiple residences in an attempt to catch an international drug smuggler. A passenger in Miami makes things difficult for himself when he refuses to answer a CBP officer's routine questions about his travel. CBP officers in JFK tear through a warehouse searching for small amounts of narcotics hidden across different shipments of prepared food.

HSI agents follow a possible meetup between one of their undercover agents and a smuggler delivering large quantities of meth in Atlanta. CBP officers in New York find a female passenger with several balloons of cocaine dangerously on and inside her body. In Miami, CBP officers have to push for answers from passengers that clearly aren't telling the truth.

As part of a joint effort during Super Bowl LIV, dubbed "Operation Team Player," CBP and HSI seize more than 176,000 counterfeit items and make multiple arrests related to human trafficking and drug smuggling. HSI Atlanta conducts a controlled delivery of a hollowed-out truck battery filled with five kilos of heroin. And HSI New York tracks a drug courier suspected to be carrying cocaine.

CBP Atlanta discovers a suitcase left in the airport by its owner, which contains cocaine concealed in coffee bags. Suspecting a trend, officers begin blitzing flights from the source country and make a second arrest. CBP Miami investigates a series of wildlife trafficking crimes, including an elderly man suspected of smuggling birds to the U.S. in his pants.

After CBP officers at JFK discover a false-bottomed suitcase filled with cocaine, HSI heads to Brooklyn with their cooperating passenger to catch the person expecting the load. In Miami, HSI questions a Venezuelan man who swallowed 85 pellets of cocaine. In Atlanta, Agriculture Specialists search items from Africa for invasive pests.

HSI Atlanta disrupt a transnational meth trafficking ring, resulting in multiple arrests, the seizure of 2 handguns, $67,000 in cash and 21 kilos of meth. CBP Miami seize one of the largest illegal shipments of shark fins in the port's history - roughly 1,400 pounds of shark fins worth nearly $1 million. CBP New York bust a young woman for smuggling roughly 1 kilo of cocaine in her purse lining.

CBP discovers four kilograms of cocaine concealed within two cakes, and then HSI follows the case from Miami to Atlanta to dismantle an interstate smuggling ring. CBP Miami inspects a load of in-transit mail and uncovers two suspicious packages that may contain narcotics. CBP New York cracks down on the importation of illicit money and investigates multiple travelers.

In New York, HSI executes a search warrant at the residence of a suspected weapons trafficker, seizing 2 handguns, dozens of silencers and more than 1,000 prescription pills. Miami CBP is on alert for smugglers from Colombia with the "hot" club drugs: ketamine, ecstasy and "tucibi" or 2CB. These narcotics can be concealed in lotions, liquids, even lip gloss; but the keen eyes of CBP win the day.

HSI Miami investigates two separate maritime smuggling cases, and seizes more than 450 kilograms of cocaine off of a yacht coming from the Caribbean. CBP cracks down on the illegal importation of prescription medications, due to concern's for people's health and safety. And CBP Miami discovers cocaine hidden in an unlikely location - the sole of a passenger's shoes.

At JFK, CBP discovers a passenger smuggling thousands of dangerous stimulant pills. In Miami, officers uncover a cache of illegal weapons headed outbound. When COVID-19 hits, CBP responds to the latest smuggling trends. In Nogales, AZ, officers make the largest meth seizure in the port's history. At Newark Seaport, CBP examines a shipment of potential narcotics arriving onboard a large vessel.

CBP Nogales confronts a growing trend of young drug carriers recruited to transport narcotics from Mexico on and in their bodies during COVID-19 travel restrictions. HSI Denver dives into the dark web with an intercepted shipment of ecstasy linked to overdose deaths in the U.K. CBP Newark confiscates 15,000 lbs of Khat, a hallucinogenic amphetamine worth an estimated $2,000,000.

Under the watchful eye of "spotters" sent by Mexican cartels, CBP discovers 34.6 kilos of meth hidden inside a car's spare tire. CBP Newark finds six stolen vehicles bound for international markets, collectively worth $600,000. CBP at JFK intercepts stolen cultural artifacts from the middle east, with market values ranging from $500 to $150,000, but all irreplaceable historical objects.

CBP finds multiple doses of lethal fentanyl hidden within passenger cars, and CBP Newark searches for an illegal stowaway onboard a cargo ship

While inspecting commercial cargo from Mexico, Laredo CBP discovers liquid meth concealed within paint buckets. The load weighs 560 kgs, and is worth $24 million. In Atlanta, HSI conducts a controlled delivery of an air conditioner filled with 2 kgs of meth. Two people are arrested, and even more drugs are confiscated. And in Nogales, CBP pursues a trend of female body carriers, and busts a woman carrying 107 grams of fentanyl internally.

CBP San Ysidro screens the trusted traveler SENTRI lanes and discovers a magnet load of fentanyl with a street value of $156,000. Later, they uncover a trunk full of meth worth $86,000. HSI tails a pickup truck loaded with narcotics to a compound outside of Los Angeles, where they find 50 kilos of liquid meth worth approximately $2.1 million. And with air travel increasing, CBP Atlanta finds more contraband arriving on international flights.