To Catch a Smuggler (2020) s01e05 Episode Script

1
(CARS HONKING)
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMEN
OVER P.A.)
This terminal is open 24 hours.
So, we are here
at 3:00 in the morning
just to do our job, like always.
If I get my coffee, I'm good to go.
ILLIANO: All right,
they're coming out.
BRITO: Hello, guys. Come on.
Passport. Good morning.
(BRITO SPEAKING
FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
BRITO: Flight coming
from Panama,
which is a transit point
for South America,
the Caribbean, and Central America.
(BRITO SPEAKING
FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(WOMAN SPEAKING
FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(BRITO SPEAKING
FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Gonna check everybody's passports,
see if anything stand out.
For example, you have passenger
go to another country
and they have no reason to be there,
it is my job to find out
what was the real reason
for that person to go to another country.
Where are you coming from?
Which country?
Panama.
BRITO: Just Panama?
No other country?
PASSENGER:
And, uh, Canada, Canada, and
No, no, on this one,
this trip. Now. Just Panama?
Yeah.
BRITO: Okay. Do you have family there?
PASSENGER: Uh, friends, friends.
Just friends?
And you don't carry any bags?
No, I, I pick up my
bag and then I go to Hong Kong.
I live in Hong Kong.
BRITO: Oh, okay.
Have a good day. Go ahead.
PASSENGER: Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Um, whenever you're finished.
So, that guy? He sounds so off.
There's something there that
I'm not quite comfortable.
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
BRITO: The kid live in Hong Kong.
He said he has friends in Panama,
said he stayed there nine days with them.
I don't know, he's hooked up
on some type of, I don't know what.
- (OFFICER SPEAKING)
- BRITO: Mm-hmm.
This passenger, he's nervous.
We don't know the reasons why
this passenger went to Panama,
now coming into New York
and now traveling all the way to Asia.
That's weird, you know, route.
It's good to find out more about it.
ILLIANO: She has a lot of experience.
Been doing this job a long time,
and she's made a lot of drug
seizures through her career.
If she has a feeling,
she she'll go with it.
BRITO: Right now, he's trying
to look for his bag
by the carousel.
As soon he get his bag,
then we go ahead and stop him again,
check the bag and talk to him
a little bit more.
Hey, keep an eye.
BRODIE: In October of last year,
CBP officers at
the Miami Air Mail Facility
did an inspection of a shipment
that was outbound to Argentina
and found multiple weapon parts.
They understood
that these are controlled items
and that they are being smuggled
out of the United States.
So, they detain and seize
those items and then they contact HSI
to do the follow-up
investigative side of it.
So, what we have here from the seizure,
we have the buttstock,
we have the lower receiver,
the upper receiver, the barrel.
These are very tactical
SWAT-esque types of rifles.
They buy these parts
from different vendors,
ship them out separately,
and once they are received,
they figure out ways to put them together
and sell them as
complete weapons like this.
ELVIS: So the components here
in the United States
would cost around $650 to $800.
In Argentina, the components could cost
up to $20,000 to $25,000.
It's being smuggled
out of the United States
and into the hands
of the criminal organization
in Argentina and Brazil.
(CLICKS)
We've reached out to HSI Buenos Aires
that is located in Argentina.
We started sharing information with them,
and by extension,
with the Argentinian government.
Start working an international
joint investigation.
Collectively, we have been able
to identify all of these nodes,
all of these individuals
involved in this smuggling endeavor.
Now, the Argentine government
is going to be executing
search warrants in the Buenos Aires area.
My team will be going down
to assist as much as we can
with those operations
to take these folks down.
Once we get in country,
we follow the lead of HSI Buenos Aires.
- That'll work.
- Okay.
There are significant threats
that are involved in this.
This is a huge endeavor.
We're trying to prevent people
that shouldn't have this stuff
from getting it.
We're clear to go.
Let's make it happen and get after it.
(HORNS HONKING)
BRITO: I'm waiting for the passenger
to finish collecting his bags.
He's pacing back and forth.
I don't know, he's waiting for his bag
or he's just walking around
to see the right moment to exit.
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
- (PASSENGER SPEAKING)
- (OFFICER SPEAKING)
(SPEAKING)
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
(PASSENGER SPEAKING)
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
Um, none right now, none right now.
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
- In Panama.
- (PASSENGER SPEAKING)
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
(PASSENGER SPEAKING)
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
(PASSENGER SPEAKING)
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
(PASSENGER SPEAKING)
It doesn't make sense that you travel
to another country
with very little bit of money.
So I need to know what he did
to support himself there.
Details, what he was doing.
I would like to talk
a little bit more. Okay?
PASSENGER: Okay.
Not finding anything in the bag
doesn't mean that
the person is good to go.
We're gonna take him to a private area
where he's gonna be patted down
to make sure they don't have any
package or patch on the body.
If this person is a drug smuggler,
we're gonna find out.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMEN
OVER P.A.)
We're doing outbound flight.
We're looking for currency
and any other contraband.
Make sure you stay together, always two.
If you're gonna follow somebody
down the ramp
or down the jetway,
make sure you let somebody know.
Safety first.
All right?
Ready to roll?
I'm ready to rock and roll.
RODRIGUEZ:
Ready to roll that up?
CANALES: Right now, we're making
our way to the outbound gates.
We're gonna hit up some outbound
flights looking for currency,
possibly narcotics.
We'll see what we get.
OFFICER: There is one
straight in front of me
with the red shirt.
WATSON: We're trying to catch
people in their natural element.
We're trying to observe people's behavior
when they don't think that
they're being watched.
(SPEAKING)
WATSON: People are doing what
they would do normally,
and we're just trying to observe them
to see if we see any anomalies.
And if we do, we can stop those people
before they get onto the plane.
ANNOUNCER:
Now departing from Gate 4.
RODRIGUEZ: This flight's
bound for Turkey.
WATSON: It sure is.
Due to current events,
we spend a lot of time focusing
on flights to Eastern Europe
and the Middle East.
LAX is a major hub
for outbound currency smuggling.
The currency can be linked
to narcotics smuggling
and terrorist activities.
RODRIGUEZ: (SPEAKING
FOREIGN LANGUAGE) Going that way.
Shaved head.
He has a black backpack.
BARBOSA: Oh, okay, okay, okay.
You see him?
He just, he can't stop.
MONTALVO: He has his
little carry-on.
The way he's holding it
he's almost like hugging it.
He doesn't want to let it go.
RODRIGUEZ: We have a gentleman
that is a little agitated,
so we're gonna interview him
when he comes up
and see what his story is.
CANALES: Hi, do you have your
passport?
MONTALVO: Just come over here,
this way.
(PASSENGER SPEAKING)
Relax, relax, relax.
We're gonna look inside
of your bags. Okay?
Hey, is there anything sharp in here?
- Anything that I should know?
- (PASSENGER SPEAKING)
MONTALVO: Take your hands
out of your pockets.
Take your hands out of your pockets.
All right.
Where are you heading to?
(PASSENGER SPEAKING)
MONTALVO: How did you get
this green card?
(ANNOUNCEMENT OVER PA)
How did you get this?
- (SPEAKING)
- MONTALVO: Hey.
You don't walk away from me.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
MONTALVO: How did you
get this green card?
How did you get this?
(SPEAKING)
MONTALVO: Hey.
Don't walk away from me.
(SPEAKING)
ANNOUNCER: This is
the final boarding process.
(PASSENGER SPEAKING)
MONTALVO: Listen,
listen, listen.
I'm going to help you out
if you work with me.
- (SPEAKING)
- But the moment you start walking away,
doing all that stuff,
we're gonna have a problem, okay?
So, let me do my thing,
and then we'll go from there.
Alright, so how much money are you taking?
(SPEAKING)
MONTALVO: How are you gonna
survive out there
if you're only taking 300 bucks?
(SPEAKING)
What does your brother do?
What's his job?
(SPEAKING)
- MONTALVO: Catering.
- (SPEAKING)
MONTALVO: What other counties
are you gonna visit?
(PASSENGER SPEAKING)
WATSON: Are you just going
for vacation?
(SPEAKING)
WATSON: Okay
(SPEAKING)
- (SPEAKING)
- WATSON: You're just going to visit?
(SPEAKING)
I didn't see their children
since they're born.
WATSON: Oh, cool. Is this your
first time back to Iran for a while?
(SPEAKING)
WATSON: Yeah.
How long will you be gone?
(SPEAKING)
In five months you'll be back?
- Yes.
- Okay.
We weren't able to find
anything suspicious
in the passenger's belongings.
We're going to let him board
his flight today,
but we're definitely going
to place a lookout on him.
So, when he comes back,
we can verify that whatever was going out,
including the story and the belongings,
are the same things coming back.
MONTALVO: Here's your stuff,
thank you for your time.
- (SPEAKING)
- Do me a favor,
please put back everything.
BARBOSA: Don't forget your drinks.
You're gonna need them.
Have a good day!
Take care, buddy.
Right there.
- (SPEAKING)
- Thank you.
(ILLIANO SPEAKING)
BRITO: The passenger
was patted down.
Even though he didn't have
anything strapped on his body,
it's a good chance that
he might be an internal,
carrying narcotics inside his stomach,
or maybe inserted.
OFFICER: You were there almost
for a week and a half, right?
Yes, sir.
BRITO: That's why we need
to find out more details
about what he was doing
all this time in Panama.
OFFICER: So whose idea
was this trip to Panama?
My, uh, my friend--
My friend from Hong Kong.
OFFICER: Your friend
- from Hong Kong?
- PASSENGER: Yes.
OFFICER: Now did you travel
with your friend?
PASSENGER: He didn't actually
make the trip with me.
He just went with me to the airport.
OFFICER: Okay. Your friend
suggested you go to Panama.
- (PASSENGER SPEAKING)
- OFFICER: And how do you know him?
PASSENGER:
Met him in Hong Kong, like
OFFICER: How long, how long ago?
PASSENGER: A little more
than two months,
a little more than two months,
almost three months.
OFFICER: So you met him
almost three months ago
and he suggested that you go to Panama?
PASSENGER: Yes, sir.
OFFICER: For what reason?
PASSENGER: Visit--
Visit, sightsee, all of that stuff.
OFFICER: Okay. So, you went there
with basically no money
and no place to stay. Okay.
So now you were there for almost a week.
What did you do the whole time
while you were there?
I just looked around, I sightseed.
OFFICER: What did you see?
Um, casinos, parks.
OFFICER: That's it? Did you meet up
with anybody while you were there?
Did anybody come to the hotel to meet you?
No.
OFFICER: Sit back and think about
everything that you're telling us.
How nothing that you say right now,
it doesn't make any sense.
You had some guy that you just met,
tells you to go to Panama.
You go there with no money.
You hear how odd that sounds?
PASSENGER: Yes, but that's all--
That's all I know.
OFFICER: That's all you know?
That's all I know, sir, I promise.
Okay, there's something that he's--
I don't think I'm even-- you understand?
The story's getting more complicated here.
Now we need to find out
who paid for his ticket,
where he got the money
from to go to Panama.
Definitely something more
to that story that he'd given us.
ILLIANO: You sure
you have nothing to tell us?
Because we're gonna find out.
I don't wanna get--I don't want
to see you get in more trouble.
No, no, I don't.
ILLIANO: You sure you're gonna
go with that now, right?
Yes, sir, that's what I'm going with.
(COMMANDER
SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE)
BRODIE: At this stage
of the operation,
which we're calling Patagonia Express,
we are working closely
with our HSI attaché office
that's stationed in Buenos Aires.
They, in turn, work very closely
with the primary investigative
enforcement group in Argentina,
the Gendarmeria Nacional.
(OFFICERS SHOUTING
IN NATIVE LANGUAGE)
(SIREN BLARING)
BRODIE: The Gendarmeria Nacional
is a highly trained task force
that works tirelessly to pursue
criminal activity here in Argentina.
(SIREN BLARING)
BRODIE: They use multiple sources
of intel
to pursue high-risk seizures
of weapons and narcotics
throughout their country.
(SIREN BLARING)
(COMMANDER
SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE)
ELVIS: The first target
we're gonna hit,
the Argentinians believe he is
the mastermind behind all the smuggling.
So hopefully,
we'll be able to get information
from the seizures,
from his home, his residence,
or even from the subject himself.
GIOVANNI: There's 20 arrest warrants
and then 29 others.
BRODIE: Basically 49
total operations.
- GIOVANNI: Correct.
- Okay.
BRODIE: It's a lot more substantial
than I'd realized.
The Argentinians
have dramatically increased
the amount of search warrants
that they're gonna be conducting.
They've identified approximately
50 different locations
and multiple hardened bunkers
here in Argentina
that they're gonna be conducting
search warrants on.
So, we're very hopeful
that there's substantial amounts
of arms and munitions in those locations.
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
GIOVANNI: We're just hoping
for the best of safety
for all the officers involved.
But we've done a lot
of preparation for this.
We're as ready as we can be.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
BRITO: Something's not all there
with this guy.
Something is off, yeah.
When it comes to interviewing
a passenger about narcotics,
it's a long process,
and it's like pulling teeth
out of his mouth.
But little by little he's getting there.
You just have to pull it out.
OFFICER: What do you do
in Hong Kong?
- Do you work?
- No.
OFFICER: What do you do?
I'm trying to find--
I'm trying to find a job.
OFFICER: So, your friend paid
for your ticket to go to Panama?
- He did, right?
- Yes.
OFFICER: But he asked you to go there
for a reason, right?
PASSENGER:
Bring back merchandise,
like shoes, clothes, like, just bring back
and like, sell to, like, different people.
Wow.
Nobody gonna buy a stranger
a ticket and tell the person,
here, go and pick up
some merchandise for me.
That doesn't even make sense.
So right now,
we believe that the merchandise
he is talking about,
he's talking about narcotics.
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
Like one thousand.
- OFFICER: Yeah?
- One thousand U.S.
He said I just go there,
like, meet somebody there.
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
Did he say that somebody
was gonna meet you in the airport?
Yeah.
So you were going to Panama
to pick up merchandise?
(PASSENGER SPEAKING)
And then bring it back where?
PASSENGER:
Bring to Hong Kong.
(PASSENGER SPEAKING)
BRITO: Not here?
PASSENGER: No.
BRITO: Something is just, like,
missing here. You understand?
Now what was the real reason
why you were in Panama?
Bring in drugs?
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
- Yes.
- (OFFICER SPEAKING)
- (OFFICER SPEAKING)
- All right.
- (OFFICER SPEAKING)
- (PASSENGER SPEAKING)
- OFFICER: Nothing?
- PASSENGER: No.
- OFFICER: You sure?
- PASSENGER: I'm sure.
OFFICER: All right.
OFFICER: What did they tell you
to go pick up? What was it?
Cocaine or heroin?
Coke.
OFFICER: Okay.
BRITO: He admitted
that it was drugs
that he was going to pick up in Panama.
We didn't find anything inside the bag.
Nothing was on his body.
But still the possibility
that he can be an internal.
How about swallow?
PASSENGER: No, no,
I've never done that before.
But you did the merchandise before?
PASSENGER: Once. Yeah.
From where you picked it up?
(SPEAKING)
OFFICER: Okay.
The stuff you brought to Macau,
did you swallow?
No, I didn't swallow, I
- OFFICER: You inserted them?
- Mmm-hmm.
OFFICER: You have stuff inserted now?
No.
No, sir.
And none in my stomach either.
- OFFICER: Do you have any in there?
- PASSENGER: No.
OFFICER: 'Cause I'm having a hard time
believing that you don't.
I don't.
OFFICER:
Did he meet you in the airport?
- PASSENGER: No.
- OFFICER: What happened?
I had lost my phone
and I had no way to contact.
OFFICER: He's supposed
to contact you through your phone
- and you lost it?
- Yeah.
OFFICER: When did you lose it?
I don't remember.
I told the management people
at that hotel to contact the police
and take me to the embassy
because I had no money
and I had no place to stay.
They found my parents' contact.
My parents booked a flight for me
to come back to Hong Kong.
Well, my father.
BRITO:
Do we have his father's phone number?
OFFICER: Yeah, do you have
your father's number?
Yeah, yes, sir.
OFFICER: Okay. All right.
Give me a second.
PASSENGER: Okay.
BRITO: We're gonna call
his father.
We're gonna call the embassy
in Panama to verify everything
and see if the passenger
is really telling us the truth about that.
So, we'll see what happens with that.
ILLIANO: Okay.
Are you traveling by yourself today?
- PASSENGER: No.
- BARBOSA: Who are you traveling with?
Here in the U.S.,
the government wants to know
how much money is coming in, going out.
We'd like to make sure
we monitor that stuff
to prevent money laundering,
money that comes through
because the drugs have been sold,
or drugs are being bought.
So, we wanna make sure
people are bringing the money in
for the right reasons, or in this case,
were taking them out
for the right reasons.
How much currency
are you traveling with today?
(PASSENGER SPEAKING)
- Yes, sir.
- (PASSENGER SPEAKING)
Maybe $20?
We've had intel about currency going out,
so we'll be talking to people
about how much currency
they're taking out of the country.
OFFICER: How's it going?
RODRIGUEZ: Where are you
headed today, sir?
I'm headed to Hamburg.
From Hamburg to Nigeria.
To Nigeria? Wow.
- You're originally from Nigeria?
- Yes.
You were born in Ghana, though.
- Yes.
- Right, right, right.
My parents are from Nigeria,
I was born in Ghana.
All right.
Now, how much currency
are you traveling with today?
PASSENGER: Less than 10,000.
- $10,000--$9,999?
- $9,900.
- No. $9,900. Yes.
- Can you come with me, please?
- I know your rule.
- Right.
Anything over $10,000, you must report it.
Around the 9,000 mark,
they become a little suspicious.
So, I decided to count the money
to verify that it is what he says it is.
- PASSENGER: $9,900.
- RODRIGUEZ: All right.
One, two, three.
When people give us a random number
up in the 9,000 mark,
they think we're going to back off,
but your body language,
what you say, sometimes gives us
a reason to go further.
Forty-eight, forty-nine.
That's $9,900.
Whoa.
- That's currency, sir.
- (PASSENGER SPEAKING)
That's a money instrument right there.
- But it's an American check.
- Yes, it is.
(SPEAKING)
What do you mean?
- A check for--is this correct, $250?
- (MAN SPEAKING)
RODRIGUEZ: Another check
for $250, for services.
What does that mean?
What does it mean?
What did you do to get that money?
(SPEAKING)
Look, look, look, look, look.
Because you weren't very forthcoming,
maybe you forgot,
maybe you didn't, I don't know that.
Put yourself in the corner over there.
I'm gonna continue
going through your bag, okay?
You wanna jump on that?
I'm sorry?
(PASSENGER SPEAKING)
RODRIGUEZ: Who are these phones
for?
Are you a phone retailer?
No, no, no, no.
(SPEAKING)
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
(SPEAKING)
RODRIGUEZ: Yeah,
they're all the same name.
OFFICER: The same person.
RODRIGUEZ: They're for one individual,
but you're supposed to give them
to different people.
(SPEAKING)
RODRIGUEZ: All right, well,
because, like (WHISTLES)
(SPEAKING)
All this stuff doesn't make sense.
When I ask you a question,
you either give me an answer
that leads me to nowhere
or doesn't answer the question.
(SPEAKING)
RODRIGUEZ: We're gonna be
taking him down
to the admissibility review unit.
You will be carrying this bag
and you'll be dragging that bag.
He's over the limit on money
and finding seven cell phones,
and we can't get a confirmed story
on what they're actually for,
or what they're gonna be used for
when they get to Nigeria.
So, a little bit more research
is warranted
before letting him go forward
on his travels.
BRODIE: We are hoping
for a large haul
of seized arms and munitions.
But our primary objective
is everyone's safety.
The last thing we want
is anybody to get hurt.
It's staggering how substantial this is.
They've got 500 cops and agents out here.
It's dark, it's cold,
and these guys are geared up
to go hit these places.
It's very impressive.
ELVIS: The scale of this operation
is significant.
Five hundred officers running around
in different parts of this country
trying to stop the trafficking of weapons
where they're gonna end up
in criminal hands.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
ELVIS: This is not something
that we take lightly.
This is something that we need to do
in order to stem the criminal activity.
MALE ANNOUNCER: This is
the final boarding call
ILLIANO: So, his father said
that he purchased his ticket
on the way back,
which is what he did claim.
He did lose his phone,
he went to the consulate,
and contacted his father.
BRITO: Everything went wrong
after he lost the phone,
because that's the only way
he had to contact this guy
he was supposed to bring back
merchandise to Hong Kong.
Mmm-hmm.
"Merchandise."
These people, they don't play
games with the merchandise.
ILLIANO: Yeah.
If you're gonna bring merchandise,
you better make your ass over there quick,
and they try to make it
quick for them, and easy.
ILLIANO: Yeah.
Not all this drama,
so why file a police report
and go to the embassy
to get out of the country?
- Like a cover story.
- Exactly. It's too much.
Right now, I don't think he has it,
that's the only thing I can tell you.
I didn't see any contradiction
on his story, no discrepancy.
The story about the embassy,
we can confirm all of that.
He's being really honest with us
right now, and I believe him.
You were about to do
the wrong thing, right?
PASSENGER: Yeah.
BRITO: How old are you now?
Twenty-six.
You're still young. Okay?
You can, you have a future ahead.
Or take another direction,
end up in jail or in trouble.
Do you understand?
Yeah.
So now that you get back home, uh,
are you gonna still keep
in touch with these people,
- or what is the deal?
- Probably, probably not.
Probably not. Probably not.
- BRITO: Are we done with this?
- ILLIANO: Yes.
BRITO: Pick up your stuff.
If they don't have anything,
they haven't committed any crime,
so this passenger, he's going
to Hong Kong to meet his dad.
- Stay away from trouble.
- I will.
Do the right thing, okay?
He needs to get his life straight.
He needs someone to guide him
to the right way,
and I wish him the best of luck.
BRODIE: We're looking for guns.
As big a seizure of guns as we can get,
because we want those guns
out of the hands of bad guys.
It's no more complicated than that.
The first house that
the Argentinians are gonna hit,
that particular subject is
very high up in the hierarchy
of both sides of the investigation.
The nature of weapons investigations is,
there's always guns there,
so the threat assessment
is always sky-high.
BRODIE: Up here to the left.
We're gonna be doing everything
we can to stay out of their way
because they have their own process,
they have their own way
of gathering evidence,
their own procedures.
We are guests in their country
so we are very cognizant of our role here.
(TIRES ROLLING SLOWLY)
(SPEAKING)
(CRASH)
(COMMANDER SPEAKING
NATIVE LANGUAGE)
(ALARM CHIRPING)
(COMMANDER SPEAKING
NATIVE LAUNGUAGE)
(BANGING)
(COMMANDER SPEAKING
NATIVE LANGUAGE)
(WOMAN SQUEAKING)
(COMMANDER SPEAKING
NATIVE LANGUAGE)
(COMMANDER SPEAKING
NATIVE LANGUAGE)
(BANGING)
(COMMANDER SPEAKING
NATIVE LANGUAGE)
(WOMAN SQUEAKING)
(COMMANDER SPEAKING
NATIVE LANGUAGE)
(COMMANDER SPEAKING
NATIVE LANGUAGE)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(COMMANDER SPEAKING
NATIVE LANGUAGE)
ELVIS: The first target that we hit
is one of the main targets
for the Argentinians.
Found a bunker within his home.
BRODIE: They found
a cache of weapons,
a ton of guns in one room.
(SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY
IN NATIVE LANGUAGE)
- Everybody's okay?
- (GIOVANNI SPEAKING)
You saw machine tools.
GIOVANNI: Yeah
(SPEAKING)
Okay.
We are flabbergasted
at what the operation thus far has netted.
It's amazing to see
all of this come together.
Right now, here in Argentina,
we're at approximately
50 different locations,
50 different search warrants,
but we're doing our best
to have these things all happen
as concurrently as we possibly can.
For a network as sophisticated as this is,
every gun we get as part of this operation
is one less gun that's out on the street.
OFFICER: All right, sir,
you're gonna go straight to the left.
BARBOSA: Everything packed
to the gills.
MONTALVO: Yeah.
You've packed a lot of stuff.
RODRIGUEZ: We have
this individual,
he's over the limit on money,
and we found seven cell phones.
He has three other bags,
so we're gonna go through those,
make sure that there is no more evidence,
or anything that we might
wanna look into further.
So who are all these shoes for?
(SPEAKING)
RODRIGUEZ: They almost look like
military boots, right?
(PASSENGER SPEAKING)
RODRIGUEZ: So you're gonna
drop these off?
MONTALVO: How many days in
Germany are you gonna be?
(SPEAKING)
RODRIGUEZ: Three or four?
You don't know how many?
BARBOSA: Who is this for?
(SPEAKING)
What is it?
(SPEAKING)
That's the brain
That's the brain of the
- that's a computer brain.
- PASSENGER: Yeah, computer.
What's the purpose of this?
Like Like, I told you
(SPEAKING)
And where is your brother?
(SPEAKING)
MONTALVO: So if he lives
in Hawthorne,
but you are taking this to Nigeria,
how does that make sense?
(SPEAKING)
MONTALVO: So, okay, okay,
so let's get back from the beginning.
I'm gonna ask you a simple question,
I need a simple answer.
What are you gonna use this for?
What's the purpose of this?
(SPEAKING)
What is this?
What part of the vehicle is this?
(PASSENGER SPEAKING)
So you have no idea what this is?
No idea, right?
(SPEAKING)
Okay.
I don't like this.
They can use it for parts,
for an explosive.
Someone's gonna try
to put something together.
- You get me?
- Yeah.
I don't like this.
RODRIGUEZ: After going through his
bags,
we found a computer brain.
It could be all innocent thing,
but it could also be tied to
some kind of terrorist act.
MONTALVO: Usually,
that's what they'll use,
that type of equipment.
- Yeah, like IEDs?
- IED components.
RODRIGUEZ: Before we
let him go further,
we need to make sure a hundred percent
that that's not what they're for.
Are you taking that computer board
to your cousin in Germany?
(SPEAKING)
- MONTALVO: Where is he?
- (PASSENGER SPEAKING)
WATSON: So why are you
taking it away
if he bought it for his car?
(SPEAKING)
OFFICER:
When is he going back to Nigeria?
(SPEAKING)
Christmas.
So, this whole time, his vehicle
is just gonna be non-operational?
(PASSENGER SPEAKING)
RODRIGUEZ: We're gonna go ahead
and go through his bags a little more,
make sure that there is no evidence
or anything tied to some terrorist act.
We just wanna make sure that
none of this stuff
is gonna get into the wrong hands.
MONTALVO: How many days
are you gonna be gone, sir?
- (SPEAKING)
- MONTALVO: Five weeks?
This is all five weeks?
This looks like five years!
(MONTALVO SPEAKING)
This yours?
(SPEAKING)
(SPEAKING)
All right.
These are all souvenirs instead of gifts.
He's gotten a lot of
things that he's going to sell.
- BARBOSA: Yeah. Oh, big time.
- And
I think he's already sold it.
Because he has all that cash,
and everyone has a name.
He's already sold it, I think.
All right. Let's put them all away.
WATSON: We ran further checks
and we determined that
we couldn't link him to
any national security issues.
He's probably just selling those
parts to customers in Nigeria.
It's not against the law
and we're just gonna let him go.
MONTALVO: So, look, it's nothing
personal.
- We're just doing our jobs.
- PASSENGER: I know. I know.
MONTALVO: But when there's
certain things that don't make sense,
we've got to make sense of them, right?
Thank you for your cooperation.
We appreciate that you cooperated,
you know.
PASSENGER: It's okay.
RODRIGUEZ: Thank you.
CANALES: Come on.
We're moving.
(SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE)
So we got over 1,300 handguns.
Then they got 1,252 rifles.
They got over 165 different
types of explosive devices.
BRODIE: Uh, anti-aircraft gun.
GIOVANNI: This is the amount of
warrants
that they're doing right now.
They got up to 42 right now finished.
Then they got 23 arrests.
BRODIE: The Argentinians
have gotten the evidence,
coming from different places
around the country,
so, they're still in the process
of collecting everything,
but the majority of it is here,
and we're gonna have an opportunity
to go look at the evidence
that they've got.
Holy crap. Okay.
We're looking at some high-powered rifles,
some Barretts.
These types of rifles are not designed
to be hunting rifles.
These are weapons of combat,
these are designed to be on battlefields.
These are weapons of war.
And then buried back here is an MP5
and a, what looks to be a MAC-10.
So these are very modern types
of submachine guns
that are the weapon of choice
for many different types
of criminal networks.
Terrorists, whoever.
They have a high rate of fire.
They are designed to cause
massive casualties
in a short amount of time.
We knew that the weapons
were being trafficked
because of the first seizures
back in, in Miami.
Now finding these caliber of weapons
actually puts the case together,
because we were finding pieces
that belonged to these type of weapons,
and we couldn't figure out
who they were going to.
Now, we have evidence of that.
We've, in effect,
taken thousands of weapons
off the streets
that were out there
illicitly and uncontrolled.
At the end of the day,
this is saving lives.
SALISBURY: As a result
of all the enforcement actions
that have occurred
during Patagonia Express,
authorities in the United States,
Argentina, and Brazil
have seized over 5,000 weapons
and firearms components.
Have seized over 167 explosives
and made 24 arrests.
(SIREN BLARING)