To Catch a Smuggler (2020) s01e08 Episode Script
Decoys, Diversions and Drug Busts
1
Come on, buddy.
Just these two crates
and then the other ones further down.
Thank you.
RHOADS: We had information
that there was a shipment
arriving today on a flight from Colombia.
OFFICER: Boom. It's that one.
We utilized canines to help this search.
The canine alerted to the box,
so let's bring it in
and see what's going on.
Well, here's the package.
As you can see it's already
got this tape on, right.
- OFFICER: Customs tape from Colombia.
- RHOADS: Yeah.
Saying the package
has already been opened.
RHOADS: Which means
absolutely nothing 'cause,
you know, we're gonna search it.
Right.
So, let's see what we got.
RHOADS: Well, that's nice.
Hope that's cocaine.
So, let's see
Just a small amount.
(BEEPING)
Negative.
Cornmeal and dextrin from corn.
OFFICER: What we have here
is, is not illegal, it's just,
uh, it's corn, ground corn.
So, we'll, we'll release it
and send it on its way.
RHOADS: Could just be a test run.
Maybe there was some drug residue
they had placed on the box
to see if it got intercepted or not.
So, we have to continue
to remain vigilant,
even though this time it was nothing.
Good morning, everyone.
In the past year, we've been
working hand in hand with CBP
to address the current opioid crisis.
We are now going to take those strategies
and some of that experience we've gained
and apply it
to the passenger terminal arena.
Operation Blue Blend is an effort
to identify and combat
international
drug trafficking organizations
that are currently importing drugs
via commercial flights into JFK.
Simply put,
we're gonna catch the bad guys.
Today is a HSI-CBP joint operation.
CBP is leading the charge
in the detection of these couriers.
I wanna introduce you guys
to CBP Deputy Chief Joe Finn.
He'll be spearheading the operation today
at the terminals.
I'm gonna turn it over to Joe
to talk a little bit about the breakdown
of how these teams are gonna function.
So, nothing revolutionary
here, guys, right,
we're just looking to get
some extra eyes in the terminal.
HSI, you guys are gonna be
blending in with the crowds,
looking for people acting suspicious,
waiting for their luggage,
making stops, doing bag exams,
assisting with pat-downs.
The ultimate goal here is put
some weight on the table,
find some narcotics
and get some arrests out of it.
WALTER: HSI and CBP
working together as one unit.
We've done smaller operations
of this nature, but not something,
uh, of this magnitude
that we're doing today.
We're gonna have three team leaders.
Team leader one will be Bajenso,
team leader two will be Jonathan,
and team leader three will be Pat.
Be patient, be flexible,
you know, let's be safe.
All right, let's get out there.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT ON PA)
There's a lot of people.
WALTER: We've got a little army today.
One of you guys go up
and one just stay down here.
JONATHAN: CBP, traditionally, is looking
at passengers, they're looking at cargo.
HSI is more of an investigative branch.
I need two more agents.
You two, go.
JONATHAN: Bringing us together
and sharing information,
we're taking the expertise
of CBP, the expertise of HSI.
If you see
some of the ribbons don't match,
that's something I wanna look at.
It really helps everybody
and it's gonna make for a good working
relationship going forward.
Gonna be a fun day.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT ON PA)
MATLIN: There's three major
countries that produce cocaine,
Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia.
Colombia being the most prolific,
uh, producer of cocaine in the world.
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
- (MAN SPEAKING SPANISH)
- (OFFICER SPEAKING SPANISH)
GALARZA:
A lot of South American flights
and source countries fly through here
to get to other
destinations within the US.
OFFICER: He says it's protein powder.
Trust by verifying, right?
Okay, so it's negative.
GALARZA: There's outstanding officers
everywhere you look around here.
They go above and beyond
to try to find these narcotics.
They're gonna keep them
from hitting our streets.
If it's liquid cocaine,
this would eventually crystalize.
Heading to Gate D11,
we got a flight coming from Colombia.
GALARZA: A passenger
may be of interest on this plane.
It's a female, mid-30s,
and we'll take a look to see
if she's smuggling
any narcotics or anything.
(OFFICER SPEAKS SPANISH)
- (SPEAKS SPANISH)
- (SPEAKS SPANISH)
(SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
Thank you.
Oh, right here. Right here.
- Hi.
- (OFFICER SPEAK SPANISH)
Do me a favor,
just wait right here for me.
I'll be right with you.
OFFICER: Usually when we're working
flights at the gate, we like selecting
multiple passengers off the same flight.
So that way the passengers don't feel
threatened in any way
that they're being picked on
or being targeted.
GALARZA: How many bags do you have?
Just one bag.
- One checked bag?
- One checked bag.
Okay.
This shouldn't take long.
We're just gonna go down,
go check the carousel.
You know, you can identify
and collect your bag.
- Okay.
- We'll search the bag real quick.
GALARZA: I think
we only have to go two stops.
WOMAN: Do not exit train. Boarding only.
- (BEEPING)
- WOMAN: Doors are closing.
Please stand clear.
WOMAN: Do not exit train. Boarding only.
- (BEEPING)
- WOMAN: Doors are closing.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT ON PA)
VINNY: Right now, we're gonna go hit,
uh, a Dominican Republic flight.
It's a transit country.
We see a lot of narcotics coming in
from the Dominican Republic.
We're gonna have agents at the gate.
We also have some agents down plane side.
We're gonna do some random checks
and, uh, see what happens.
OFFICER: Were these three already X-rayed?
OFFICER: Yeah, they're already X-rayed.
OFFICER: Okay.
PATRICK: Right now, we're getting
the first few bags that are coming off
the Dominican flight.
These are ones you wanna crack open.
- Yeah.
- So far this one is negative.
PATRICK: Whenever we have a flight
that comes in through JFK,
bags get searched at random,
just to make sure that everything
that's coming off the flight
is, uh, you know, good to go.
This already went
through the X-ray, right?
PATRICK: Okay.
'Cause this has like wear
on it but he had it in bags.
Maybe he'd bagged these for germaphobia,
I understand that.
(LAUGHTER)
Is it a styrofoam?
- No.
- No, that's powder.
It's like right
in the bottom along the lining.
That area that it is in the bag
is known for a hidden location,
where smugglers will put any kind
of illicit substance,
contraband, cocaine.
It's chunky, it looks
like the consistency.
It's crumbly. It's I didn't find
anything containing powdered sugar.
That's powder.
The area that it is in the bag
is where smugglers will put
any kind of illicit substance,
contraband, cocaine.
It's chunky, it looks
like the consistency.
- Yeah.
- OFFICER: All right.
PATRICK: Even though the dog didn't hit
on it, I'm not comfortable with it,
the officer's not comfortable with it.
So, I think I'm gonna have someone inside
take an extra look at the passenger.
There's just too many red flags
for me to just let this go
without being more thorough.
(PHONE DINGS)
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT ON PA)
VINNY: I just got word from Patrick, CBP
identified a suspicious piece of luggage.
We are now going to attempt to identify
the owner of the luggage
coming off the plane.
Hey, we just put
a, a BOLO out for this female.
We got some sort of bag
right now that they're looking into.
- All right. Cool.
- All right. So, everybody be ready.
Sir, can I see your passport?
Passports out, folks.
Have your passport out, guys.
Thank you.
OFFICER: Next.
WOMAN: Oh. Oops.
(FEMALE OFFICER SPEAKING)
Us three.
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATION)
WOMAN: Yes.
VINNY: That's her.
That's her, right there.
She is traveling
with two additional females.
So we're gonna wanna talk to all three.
OFFICER: Yeah, on the way out.
Found somebody that,
uh, piqued our curiosity.
OFFICER: Thanks.
MATLIN: One of the things
we noticed right away was that
her shoes are very thick-soled.
The way she's walking,
feet to the side, is not typical.
Uh, thick-soled shoes have been
a long-standing way to smuggle narcotics.
So, we escorted her down, we're going
to wait for her checked-in luggage
to come up and then complete
the next phase of the examination.
That's it?
Okay. Excellent. Right this way.
GALARZA: Oh, yeah. I get nervous when I go
to a foreign country and they stop me,
even though I have nothing to hide.
Some of these people have traveled so much
they're comfortable
with the inspections, um,
and they show no nervous behavior
until you're actually right on top of it,
until you're actually probing something
and you're coming out with white powder.
You're not transporting
in excess of $10,000?
How much money do you have?
Okay. Anybody give you anything to bring?
What, what's it called?
Sony? Oh, I got you.
I got you.
Okay.
She stated that the books were actually
a request from a known narcotics smuggler.
VCRs? He asked for manuals for a VCR?
WOMAN: Yeah.
The manual for outdated technology.
I don't know why somebody
would be requesting that.
I haven't seen a VCR in a long time.
Sometimes they'll try to conceal
the narcotics within the spine
so we have to fine-tooth comb
that whole book.
- I'm gonna have two female officers
- WOMAN: Okay.
pat you down real quick.
If everything's good,
you're free to be on your way.
Everything there seemed to be good.
Um, now that I've ruled all that out,
the last thing to check is to see
if the passenger
actually has it on her body.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT ON PA)
PATRICK: They're coming.
They're literally on the conveyor belt
with the dog running over them now.
Okay.
Right now, we're watching these girls
over there waiting to get their bags.
Once they get them,
CBP is gonna make the initial stop.
OFFICER: There you go.
OFFICER: How are you?
Can I see your passports?
WOMAN: Yeah.
Sometimes people put stuff
in other peoples' bags.
Hey, listen, ladies, let's take
a quick look at your bags, okay?
So, we're gonna end up talking
to all three of them, separately.
See what they have to say.
How was your trip?
- WOMAN: It was good.
- VINCENTZ: Good?
How long did you stay out there for?
- WOMAN: Five days.
- VINCENTZ: That's it?
WOMAN: Yeah.
Where did you ladies
stay while you were there?
What's this, cassava?
- (LAUGHING)
- Nah, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good.
VINCENTZ: Okay, go ahead.
Do you eat this? What is it?
Soap? Oh, okay.
VINCENTZ: She's being kind of flirtatious.
She wasn't really taking
the inspection all that serious.
Could be a sign of nervous behavior.
VINCENTZ: Why do they look upset?
VINCENTZ: Oh, it's our fault?
Well, how about
you ask them once you're done?
Okay?
WALTER: The subject that had the residue
in her luggage is very quiet right now,
tense, not making too much eye contact.
PATRICK: Did you have any makeup
or anything on this side?
Okay.
PATRICK: I saw in one of your clothes
when I moved it I just,
I'd show you, if I could find it again.
There was like some, like, little, like,
white powdery, I don't know what it was.
Oh, deodorant?
Oh, okay.
When I asked her about it,
she said that it was probably deodorant,
but it was really grainy.
WALTER: All right.
PATRICK: The bag's negative right now.
The white powdery substance,
she claimed it to be a deodorant
that was stuck to her clothes.
There was no deodorant stick or any sort
of cosmetic that comes close
to that kind of substance in her bag,
so, you know, I'm not really
inclined to believe her.
VINCENTZ: All right, listen. The last
process is we're just gonna make sure
you don't have anything in your body.
No, not here!
- Oh.
- You're gonna have to wait a second
'cause, uh, there's only,
'cause it's gonna be a female, okay?
It's not gonna be, uh, a guy.
It's gonna be two females
who are going to take you
in a private search room real quick.
PATRICK: The amount of powder
that we found isn't enough to test.
I'm not gonna arrest someone just based
on a little bit of residue in a bag.
OFFICER: Next.
WALTER: Female pat down, negative.
Again, bags were negative.
We don't have enough right now,
so we'll just,
uh, cut them loose for today.
VINCENTZ: Okay. You can start putting
your stuff back, all right?
VINCENTZ: You getting outta here is, uh,
the reward, you know what I'm saying?
WALTER: I'll talk to my guys,
look over their travels
and see what we can build from this.
May be something
that we can target in the future.
VINCENTZ: I appreciate your patience.
- Thank you so much.
- WOMAN: Yeah.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
While you were
conducting the baggage exam,
I was observing the passenger
and she couldn't stay still.
She'd crisscross one way and then no more
than 10 seconds later
she'd go back to normal.
And what I've seen in the past
is that when there's a package
on the side of the shoes
and it's just sitting,
her foot's sitting the wrong way,
it's actually causing
pain while she's walking.
GALARZA: Right.
GALARZA: Thank you, thank you.
We'll remove the shoes
and actually try to probe the shoes
to see if there's any narcotics
hidden within there.
When you probe the, the narcotics
will actually get stuck
within the grooves here.
When you pull out, you actually have
enough to, to test.
VARGAS: It's heavy.
She's one of the 99%, on her way.
- I appreciate your patience.
- Thank you very much.
Everyone here has been very professional.
- Have a good day.
- Thank you.
The vast majority
are bonafide travelers, well over 99%,
but it's not like the judicial system,
we have to have the reverse mentality
because you never know who's bringing it.
It could be anybody.
We're looking for the proverbial needle
in a haystack
and that small percentage
that are bringing stuff in.
So, we have to assume that
everybody's guilty until
until they prove to us that they're not.
Keep fishing.
That was a release.
Just throw it back in the water
and see what we catch.
DON: Drugs, guns, they get the spotlight.
They're usually the news at, at 6:00.
But counterfeit goods is a huge problem.
Now, if you buy something here
that's counterfeit,
where is that money going to?
ALBRITTON: Let's see what we find today.
DON: Is it going back overseas?
Is it going to a potential
terrorist organization?
Is it going
to a transnational crime syndicate?
This look like more counterfeit handbags.
The handbag that you might buy here
that's counterfeit could fund
illicit enterprises not only
nationwide but internationally.
Oh! Counterfeit Kylie.
This is a hot commodity.
Everybody's trying to get
the Kylie makeup, Kylie lipstick.
DON: With Los Angeles here being
a gateway to the Pacific Rim,
we get a lot of products
coming in from Asia.
More Gucci bags.
DON: And a lot of those
shipments are good to go,
but there are those shipments
that are indeed counterfeit.
OFFICER: This here is fake
because Louis Vuitton never stitch
over the LV, ever.
That, right there, tell you off
the bat that it's counterfeit.
DON: Uh, whether
they're in the cargo environment
or here in the passenger environment,
we see and CBP sees
counterfeit items all the time.
It says Rolex, but they're not real.
These are counterfeit items.
DON: On passengers, in their checked
luggage, their carry-on luggage,
day in and day out.
Whoa!
What'd you have to do? Sit on this thing?
This you?
Matches your shirt.
ALBRITTON: What brand is that?
Vivienne Westwood?
Okay.
And where do you stay
while you're in Japan?
ALBRITTON: Shibuya?
Do you go Do you go pretty often?
ALBRITTON:
Okay. Do you work while you're there?
ALBRITTON:
Supreme? Oh, you sell clothes?
Like, wholesale, retail?
ALBRITTON: Was that one
of your main reasons for going out there?
ALBRITTON: What do you do for work?
ALBRITTON: Okay. So,
who you shot videos for?
ALBRITTON: Yeah? How'd you get into it?
You go to school for that?
- MAN: No, I just kind of
- Picked up a camera one day and
ALBRITTON: Part of the inspection process,
at least for me when I want
the full story is to be running checks.
You want to make sure
their story makes sense to you.
Oh, this must be the kid.
So, it appears that Gabe of Uzi is a, uh,
well-known person that makes music videos.
I guess the, uh, flipping, uh,
clothing is a side hustle for him.
Yeah. That answers that question.
I'm thinking this guy,
uh, he's just into the fashion.
ALBRITTON: And he was
there checking it out.
Nothing wrong with that.
Right up there, you'd make
a left, right at the end.
Cool. Bye-bye.
WALTER: All right, guys. We got some
information from the HSI tip line.
A male is coming off of a flight
from Colombia with cocaine on him.
We passed the information over to CBP.
ELIAS: This is our subject right here.
Got it.
ELIAS: We'll pull him off the line
and then we'll do our thing over here.
We'll team up, one HSI with one CBP.
- Let's do this.
- ELIAS: Go, team.
WALTER: The challenge tonight
is we're gonna try to find this one person
in this river of people.
So, it's gonna be challenging.
That's crazy.
And look, and, and then,
and they're still coming.
If anybody had any doubts that JFK
is not one of the busiest airports, ever.
VINNY: You wanna check this side first?
I mean
WALTER: Hold on, he's checking over here.
VINNY: All right.
WALTER: Is he over there?
- JONATHAN: Got him?
- VINNY: We got him.
WALTER: Right here with the gray hat on.
Let him get his bag, once he gets
his bag, and then we'll grab him.
Yeah.
WOMAN: Once again,
for the information of passengers,
your bags are on carousel number two.
There are currently many similar
and even the same bag on the carousel.
WALTER: I just wanna see
if he hits that phone.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT)
All right, here we go.
Sending a message out.
VINNY: He's been rocking that phone
- since he's on that line.
- WALTER: Non-stop. Constant.
VINNY: There's no doubt
someone's waiting for him for something.
JONATHAN: He's doing a beeline.
WALTER: Straight through.
- Sorry, man.
- WALTER: Excuse me.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
- (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
- (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
JONATHAN: Tattoo machine.
JONATHAN: Oh.
JONATHAN:
The individual is a tattoo artist.
He had instruments on him that were
consistent with him being a tattoo artist.
He was allowed to have those needles
and he was good to have
that on his person.
WALTER: The bags are negative
right now, but again,
we got a tip that this guy is a courier.
WALTER: So we're gonna have CBP
pat him down, make sure he doesn't have
any narcotics
or any contraband on his person.
For all we know, he could have
a key of coke on his legs.
(HONKING)
URIARTE: This is coming from China?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
(BEEPING)
What we have here is shipment coming
from China, approximately 154 pieces.
DON: With counterfeit goods, you see
a variety of concealment methods.
And in cargo, it may be mismanifested,
hoping that the authorities
actually don't take a look at it.
OFFICER: Okay,
we've got some poultry here.
RODRIGUEZ: So, the shipment was declared
as animal products,
but for shipments that are coming in
from these high-risk countries,
we never know what we're gonna get.
So that's why we have to go delve deep
and make sure the shipment is compliant.
Nothing wrong with it.
OFFICER:
And we still have 153 boxes to go through.
Oh! This is counterfeit Louis Vuitton.
We know it's counterfeit because
Louis Vuitton wouldn't ship something
in a box that looks like this.
We have about three pallets
with merchandise on there.
Got a bunch of rings,
a bunch of Bracelets.
Chanel. Louis Vuitton.
RODRIGUEZ: This is all bootleg stuff.
It's obviously, uh,
trademark infringements.
Mostly all the Air Jordans
that we've got in this shipment,
they're pretty much the same, uh
- This style, right here?
- Same style.
There's a lot of stuff. (GRUNTS)
This was all one part of one big shipment,
so the shipment was declared
as animal products.
It was not.
ACOSTA: We're looking at close
to a half a million dollars'
worth of product.
OFFICER: This shipment
will be either destroyed
or re-exported to the country of origin.
Three Bulgari.
This volume, I see it personally about
once or twice a year in this port, LAX.
DON: A lot of people think it's not as if
I'm importing heroin or importing crates
of guns, but people produce counterfeits
because it makes them money.
The handbag that you might buy here
that's counterfeit,
that money may go back overseas
to fund a transnational
criminal organization.
As cliché as it sounds,
we're protecting the American public,
and we get a chance
to do that on a daily basis.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT ON PA)
WALTER: So far, the information
on the tipster has been negative.
CBP did a quick pat down,
that was negative.
I wanna make sure that this guy
did not swallow any narcotics.
So, we're gonna talk to him a little bit
and see what his true intentions are.
(VELASCO SPEAKING SPANISH)
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Okay.
(ZIPPING THE BAG OPEN)
VELASCO: Okay. Right.
Give me a second.
Hey, tell me what you see
wrong with this letter.
Just read it, sounds like a fugazi to me.
WALTER: The story sounds good on paper,
but there's something missing.
I mean he's got a seal and all that.
Like almost overdone?
WALTER: If there's smoke, there's fire,
and there's a lot of smoke on this one.
OFFICER: Spanish-American Institute?
ELIAS: It comes up?
WALTER: Yeah, but that don't mean
he's going there.
(VELASCO SPEAKING
FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
He said his father
is gonna take care of him.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WALTER: His father makes $6 million pesos,
which is an equivalent to only
$30,000 a year, U.S. dollars,
it's not a lot of money.
And they're sending him
to the United States to learn English.
New York City is one of the most expensive
cities to live in,
there's something missing in the math.
It's not adding up.
(VELASCO SPEAKING
FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
JONATHAN:
All right. Thanks, bro.
I appreciate it very much.
Bye.
School says they have a record on him.
We've done our research
and the information that he provided us
about this school adds up.
School actually exists.
It's a legitimate place.
So, we're gonna let him enter the country
and move on with his travel.
(WALTER SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WALTER: Today's tip
information turned out to be negative,
but we have to treat
all of the information we get
from the HSI tip line independently.
(INDISTINCT)
(WALTER SPEAKING
FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Sometimes it's just a poison
pen where it's an ex-lover or, uh,
someone that's upset but all we know
is that we got a tip that someone
is trying to bring some contraband
into the United States
and it's our job with CBP to make sure
we don't allow that to happen.
- JONATHAN: What are you gonna do?
- We, listen, we found him, right?
- ELIAS: Yeah.
- MAN: Yeah.
WALTER: That was half the battle, there.
VINNY: And you know what, this guy
will just be in our watch list.
- Yeah.
- WALTER: Thanks, guys.
VINNY: Yeah no problem.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT ON PA)
WALTER: Today was a long day.
- It's still not over.
- On your feet.
Nah, we're going all night.
We're going all night.
- MARTINEZ: Can I see your passport?
- Yeah.
Where are you coming from today?
Montego Bay?
Drugs can come at any time,
anyone can be carrying them.
No matter age, race,
where they're coming from.
Lot of products, huh?
- PASSENGER: Yup.
- MARTINEZ: So you can't get that here?
MARTINEZ: No.
Right now
we're just looking for behaviors,
uh, who's traveling with who.
OFFICER: Family, together?
- No.
- No? Solo?
You do have to have all your senses
ready to go at any time.
All right, buddy, put
your bag up here for me.
This passenger was coming from Amsterdam,
one of the countries we consider
high risk for narcotics.
As I'm going through the bags, I notice
that the passenger had an unusual amount
of lotions and shampoos for the amount
of time he was staying here.
The bottles were full, they felt heavy
and seemed to be very pasty,
kind of grainy,
and that's when I felt we had something.
Here's what we're gonna do, we're gonna go
talk in a private room, okay?
Just come with me, okay?
(AIRPLANE ENGINE SOUND)
GALARZA: In the passenger environment
we're most likely to find anywhere
from ounces of something that is, like,
personal use to a few kilos of narcotics.
Whereas in the cargo environment
or foreign mail facility,
you're looking for bigger quantities.
It is looking
for that needle in the haystack.
Typical concealment methods have
varied over the years so much.
Nothing surprises me anymore.
We've seen absolutely everything.
Absolutely everything.
KEARSE: Yeah, something is off.
Let's, let's look at it.
Looks like it could be suspected
of carrying some sort of narcotic.
When you see it on the image, sometimes
it's hard to tell what you're looking at.
It takes the officer to go in
to do a detailed examination.
You can't take it at face value.
They're in the hard plastic just like
you can find the coffee
at, at the local grocery store.
It looks like it's something
KEARSE: Looks like
it's something, and there you go.
It looks like it could be cocaine.
We don't know exactly
what we have in front of us.
We'll test it first.
A positive result for cocaine.
Nothing beats a physical exam.
If you're not experienced,
you're gonna take the top off
and, oh, everything looks good.
Nobody's tampered with it.
But based on experience of what we've seen
here, they know the smugglers
are gonna seal it up nice and neat
and make it look like
there's never been any tampering.
You can't beat experience.
What we discovered here
is 651 grams of cocaine,
which is a little over a half a key.
HSI will decide if they wanna proceed
with any further investigation.
And if they don't, we seize it
and it gets destroyed.
That's it
and we're on to the next shipment.
A lot relies on the officers,
but we do a pretty good job
at finding a lot of stuff.
That's for sure.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT ON PA)
MARTINEZ: So, we found a passenger
coming from Amsterdam.
It's one of those flights
that can be bringing drugs and narcotics.
During the bag exam, I noticed
the lotion bottles he had with him.
One of the bottles seemed to be,
uh, very pasty, kind of grainy.
That's something we've seen
before in other seizures.
MARTINEZ: Uh, combination.
MARTINEZ: And really the reason I kept it
- was the powderiness.
- Yeah.
We have the passenger in the pat down room
and we're going to be testing the bottles
to see exactly what it is
and we'll move on from there.
MATTHEW: All right.
MATTHEW: Some of them are liquid.
Some of them are powder.
OFFICER: Okay.
MATTHEW: We're gonna test it with Gemini.
It scans the contents
of hard objects or liquids.
Ketamine hydrochloride.
JONATHAN: Ketamine,
street name's Special K.
It's a big club drug.
Basically removes
the person from their body.
In the past, it was being stolen
mostly from veterinary offices.
Now, we're starting to see a lot of it
being smuggled in
from outside the country.
OFFICER:
Now, we're gonna get a gross weight.
MATTHEW: Those are all of them,
right there.
OFFICER: The gross weight
is 4.279 kilograms.
So, we're looking at a little
under $90,000 in street value.
To get four and a quarter keys
off the street,
that's a pretty good hit.
This is pretty significant.
OFFICER: So now, the gentleman's
gonna be processed here.
OFFICER: The case
was a subject for prosecution.
A great one for the team.
- OFFICER: Thank you, guys.
- All right. Take it easy.
Take it easy, guys.
MARTINEZ: It's good to get
those drugs off the street.
Definitely makes a big impact
and it helps you keep doing your job
and fueling you more to try to catch it.
- Great job, man. That's awesome.
- Thanks. We appreciate,
- I mean, coming out, coming out.
- No. You kidding me, dude?
- You guys are awesome. Cold stop, right?
- Taking care of everything.
- Yeah.
- No, uh, no info
- on this ahead of time?
- No info. No info.
JONATHAN: I love that.
MARTINEZ: It feels good. It feels good
to be able to say I've completed a mission
and work as a team, the HSI agents'
response in this case was excellent.
They were there ready to go
with everything they needed
so we could just smoothly transition
everything to them.
I like it when a plan comes together.
Yeah, dude.
OFFICER: Teamwork
makes the dream work, man. Good job.
(LAUGHTER)
Operation Blue Blend. One force. One team.
That's some ketamine
that's never gonna make it
to the streets of New York.
And that's what we're here to do.
Come on, buddy.
Just these two crates
and then the other ones further down.
Thank you.
RHOADS: We had information
that there was a shipment
arriving today on a flight from Colombia.
OFFICER: Boom. It's that one.
We utilized canines to help this search.
The canine alerted to the box,
so let's bring it in
and see what's going on.
Well, here's the package.
As you can see it's already
got this tape on, right.
- OFFICER: Customs tape from Colombia.
- RHOADS: Yeah.
Saying the package
has already been opened.
RHOADS: Which means
absolutely nothing 'cause,
you know, we're gonna search it.
Right.
So, let's see what we got.
RHOADS: Well, that's nice.
Hope that's cocaine.
So, let's see
Just a small amount.
(BEEPING)
Negative.
Cornmeal and dextrin from corn.
OFFICER: What we have here
is, is not illegal, it's just,
uh, it's corn, ground corn.
So, we'll, we'll release it
and send it on its way.
RHOADS: Could just be a test run.
Maybe there was some drug residue
they had placed on the box
to see if it got intercepted or not.
So, we have to continue
to remain vigilant,
even though this time it was nothing.
Good morning, everyone.
In the past year, we've been
working hand in hand with CBP
to address the current opioid crisis.
We are now going to take those strategies
and some of that experience we've gained
and apply it
to the passenger terminal arena.
Operation Blue Blend is an effort
to identify and combat
international
drug trafficking organizations
that are currently importing drugs
via commercial flights into JFK.
Simply put,
we're gonna catch the bad guys.
Today is a HSI-CBP joint operation.
CBP is leading the charge
in the detection of these couriers.
I wanna introduce you guys
to CBP Deputy Chief Joe Finn.
He'll be spearheading the operation today
at the terminals.
I'm gonna turn it over to Joe
to talk a little bit about the breakdown
of how these teams are gonna function.
So, nothing revolutionary
here, guys, right,
we're just looking to get
some extra eyes in the terminal.
HSI, you guys are gonna be
blending in with the crowds,
looking for people acting suspicious,
waiting for their luggage,
making stops, doing bag exams,
assisting with pat-downs.
The ultimate goal here is put
some weight on the table,
find some narcotics
and get some arrests out of it.
WALTER: HSI and CBP
working together as one unit.
We've done smaller operations
of this nature, but not something,
uh, of this magnitude
that we're doing today.
We're gonna have three team leaders.
Team leader one will be Bajenso,
team leader two will be Jonathan,
and team leader three will be Pat.
Be patient, be flexible,
you know, let's be safe.
All right, let's get out there.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT ON PA)
There's a lot of people.
WALTER: We've got a little army today.
One of you guys go up
and one just stay down here.
JONATHAN: CBP, traditionally, is looking
at passengers, they're looking at cargo.
HSI is more of an investigative branch.
I need two more agents.
You two, go.
JONATHAN: Bringing us together
and sharing information,
we're taking the expertise
of CBP, the expertise of HSI.
If you see
some of the ribbons don't match,
that's something I wanna look at.
It really helps everybody
and it's gonna make for a good working
relationship going forward.
Gonna be a fun day.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT ON PA)
MATLIN: There's three major
countries that produce cocaine,
Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia.
Colombia being the most prolific,
uh, producer of cocaine in the world.
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
- (MAN SPEAKING SPANISH)
- (OFFICER SPEAKING SPANISH)
GALARZA:
A lot of South American flights
and source countries fly through here
to get to other
destinations within the US.
OFFICER: He says it's protein powder.
Trust by verifying, right?
Okay, so it's negative.
GALARZA: There's outstanding officers
everywhere you look around here.
They go above and beyond
to try to find these narcotics.
They're gonna keep them
from hitting our streets.
If it's liquid cocaine,
this would eventually crystalize.
Heading to Gate D11,
we got a flight coming from Colombia.
GALARZA: A passenger
may be of interest on this plane.
It's a female, mid-30s,
and we'll take a look to see
if she's smuggling
any narcotics or anything.
(OFFICER SPEAKS SPANISH)
- (SPEAKS SPANISH)
- (SPEAKS SPANISH)
(SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
Thank you.
Oh, right here. Right here.
- Hi.
- (OFFICER SPEAK SPANISH)
Do me a favor,
just wait right here for me.
I'll be right with you.
OFFICER: Usually when we're working
flights at the gate, we like selecting
multiple passengers off the same flight.
So that way the passengers don't feel
threatened in any way
that they're being picked on
or being targeted.
GALARZA: How many bags do you have?
Just one bag.
- One checked bag?
- One checked bag.
Okay.
This shouldn't take long.
We're just gonna go down,
go check the carousel.
You know, you can identify
and collect your bag.
- Okay.
- We'll search the bag real quick.
GALARZA: I think
we only have to go two stops.
WOMAN: Do not exit train. Boarding only.
- (BEEPING)
- WOMAN: Doors are closing.
Please stand clear.
WOMAN: Do not exit train. Boarding only.
- (BEEPING)
- WOMAN: Doors are closing.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT ON PA)
VINNY: Right now, we're gonna go hit,
uh, a Dominican Republic flight.
It's a transit country.
We see a lot of narcotics coming in
from the Dominican Republic.
We're gonna have agents at the gate.
We also have some agents down plane side.
We're gonna do some random checks
and, uh, see what happens.
OFFICER: Were these three already X-rayed?
OFFICER: Yeah, they're already X-rayed.
OFFICER: Okay.
PATRICK: Right now, we're getting
the first few bags that are coming off
the Dominican flight.
These are ones you wanna crack open.
- Yeah.
- So far this one is negative.
PATRICK: Whenever we have a flight
that comes in through JFK,
bags get searched at random,
just to make sure that everything
that's coming off the flight
is, uh, you know, good to go.
This already went
through the X-ray, right?
PATRICK: Okay.
'Cause this has like wear
on it but he had it in bags.
Maybe he'd bagged these for germaphobia,
I understand that.
(LAUGHTER)
Is it a styrofoam?
- No.
- No, that's powder.
It's like right
in the bottom along the lining.
That area that it is in the bag
is known for a hidden location,
where smugglers will put any kind
of illicit substance,
contraband, cocaine.
It's chunky, it looks
like the consistency.
It's crumbly. It's I didn't find
anything containing powdered sugar.
That's powder.
The area that it is in the bag
is where smugglers will put
any kind of illicit substance,
contraband, cocaine.
It's chunky, it looks
like the consistency.
- Yeah.
- OFFICER: All right.
PATRICK: Even though the dog didn't hit
on it, I'm not comfortable with it,
the officer's not comfortable with it.
So, I think I'm gonna have someone inside
take an extra look at the passenger.
There's just too many red flags
for me to just let this go
without being more thorough.
(PHONE DINGS)
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT ON PA)
VINNY: I just got word from Patrick, CBP
identified a suspicious piece of luggage.
We are now going to attempt to identify
the owner of the luggage
coming off the plane.
Hey, we just put
a, a BOLO out for this female.
We got some sort of bag
right now that they're looking into.
- All right. Cool.
- All right. So, everybody be ready.
Sir, can I see your passport?
Passports out, folks.
Have your passport out, guys.
Thank you.
OFFICER: Next.
WOMAN: Oh. Oops.
(FEMALE OFFICER SPEAKING)
Us three.
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATION)
WOMAN: Yes.
VINNY: That's her.
That's her, right there.
She is traveling
with two additional females.
So we're gonna wanna talk to all three.
OFFICER: Yeah, on the way out.
Found somebody that,
uh, piqued our curiosity.
OFFICER: Thanks.
MATLIN: One of the things
we noticed right away was that
her shoes are very thick-soled.
The way she's walking,
feet to the side, is not typical.
Uh, thick-soled shoes have been
a long-standing way to smuggle narcotics.
So, we escorted her down, we're going
to wait for her checked-in luggage
to come up and then complete
the next phase of the examination.
That's it?
Okay. Excellent. Right this way.
GALARZA: Oh, yeah. I get nervous when I go
to a foreign country and they stop me,
even though I have nothing to hide.
Some of these people have traveled so much
they're comfortable
with the inspections, um,
and they show no nervous behavior
until you're actually right on top of it,
until you're actually probing something
and you're coming out with white powder.
You're not transporting
in excess of $10,000?
How much money do you have?
Okay. Anybody give you anything to bring?
What, what's it called?
Sony? Oh, I got you.
I got you.
Okay.
She stated that the books were actually
a request from a known narcotics smuggler.
VCRs? He asked for manuals for a VCR?
WOMAN: Yeah.
The manual for outdated technology.
I don't know why somebody
would be requesting that.
I haven't seen a VCR in a long time.
Sometimes they'll try to conceal
the narcotics within the spine
so we have to fine-tooth comb
that whole book.
- I'm gonna have two female officers
- WOMAN: Okay.
pat you down real quick.
If everything's good,
you're free to be on your way.
Everything there seemed to be good.
Um, now that I've ruled all that out,
the last thing to check is to see
if the passenger
actually has it on her body.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT ON PA)
PATRICK: They're coming.
They're literally on the conveyor belt
with the dog running over them now.
Okay.
Right now, we're watching these girls
over there waiting to get their bags.
Once they get them,
CBP is gonna make the initial stop.
OFFICER: There you go.
OFFICER: How are you?
Can I see your passports?
WOMAN: Yeah.
Sometimes people put stuff
in other peoples' bags.
Hey, listen, ladies, let's take
a quick look at your bags, okay?
So, we're gonna end up talking
to all three of them, separately.
See what they have to say.
How was your trip?
- WOMAN: It was good.
- VINCENTZ: Good?
How long did you stay out there for?
- WOMAN: Five days.
- VINCENTZ: That's it?
WOMAN: Yeah.
Where did you ladies
stay while you were there?
What's this, cassava?
- (LAUGHING)
- Nah, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good.
VINCENTZ: Okay, go ahead.
Do you eat this? What is it?
Soap? Oh, okay.
VINCENTZ: She's being kind of flirtatious.
She wasn't really taking
the inspection all that serious.
Could be a sign of nervous behavior.
VINCENTZ: Why do they look upset?
VINCENTZ: Oh, it's our fault?
Well, how about
you ask them once you're done?
Okay?
WALTER: The subject that had the residue
in her luggage is very quiet right now,
tense, not making too much eye contact.
PATRICK: Did you have any makeup
or anything on this side?
Okay.
PATRICK: I saw in one of your clothes
when I moved it I just,
I'd show you, if I could find it again.
There was like some, like, little, like,
white powdery, I don't know what it was.
Oh, deodorant?
Oh, okay.
When I asked her about it,
she said that it was probably deodorant,
but it was really grainy.
WALTER: All right.
PATRICK: The bag's negative right now.
The white powdery substance,
she claimed it to be a deodorant
that was stuck to her clothes.
There was no deodorant stick or any sort
of cosmetic that comes close
to that kind of substance in her bag,
so, you know, I'm not really
inclined to believe her.
VINCENTZ: All right, listen. The last
process is we're just gonna make sure
you don't have anything in your body.
No, not here!
- Oh.
- You're gonna have to wait a second
'cause, uh, there's only,
'cause it's gonna be a female, okay?
It's not gonna be, uh, a guy.
It's gonna be two females
who are going to take you
in a private search room real quick.
PATRICK: The amount of powder
that we found isn't enough to test.
I'm not gonna arrest someone just based
on a little bit of residue in a bag.
OFFICER: Next.
WALTER: Female pat down, negative.
Again, bags were negative.
We don't have enough right now,
so we'll just,
uh, cut them loose for today.
VINCENTZ: Okay. You can start putting
your stuff back, all right?
VINCENTZ: You getting outta here is, uh,
the reward, you know what I'm saying?
WALTER: I'll talk to my guys,
look over their travels
and see what we can build from this.
May be something
that we can target in the future.
VINCENTZ: I appreciate your patience.
- Thank you so much.
- WOMAN: Yeah.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
While you were
conducting the baggage exam,
I was observing the passenger
and she couldn't stay still.
She'd crisscross one way and then no more
than 10 seconds later
she'd go back to normal.
And what I've seen in the past
is that when there's a package
on the side of the shoes
and it's just sitting,
her foot's sitting the wrong way,
it's actually causing
pain while she's walking.
GALARZA: Right.
GALARZA: Thank you, thank you.
We'll remove the shoes
and actually try to probe the shoes
to see if there's any narcotics
hidden within there.
When you probe the, the narcotics
will actually get stuck
within the grooves here.
When you pull out, you actually have
enough to, to test.
VARGAS: It's heavy.
She's one of the 99%, on her way.
- I appreciate your patience.
- Thank you very much.
Everyone here has been very professional.
- Have a good day.
- Thank you.
The vast majority
are bonafide travelers, well over 99%,
but it's not like the judicial system,
we have to have the reverse mentality
because you never know who's bringing it.
It could be anybody.
We're looking for the proverbial needle
in a haystack
and that small percentage
that are bringing stuff in.
So, we have to assume that
everybody's guilty until
until they prove to us that they're not.
Keep fishing.
That was a release.
Just throw it back in the water
and see what we catch.
DON: Drugs, guns, they get the spotlight.
They're usually the news at, at 6:00.
But counterfeit goods is a huge problem.
Now, if you buy something here
that's counterfeit,
where is that money going to?
ALBRITTON: Let's see what we find today.
DON: Is it going back overseas?
Is it going to a potential
terrorist organization?
Is it going
to a transnational crime syndicate?
This look like more counterfeit handbags.
The handbag that you might buy here
that's counterfeit could fund
illicit enterprises not only
nationwide but internationally.
Oh! Counterfeit Kylie.
This is a hot commodity.
Everybody's trying to get
the Kylie makeup, Kylie lipstick.
DON: With Los Angeles here being
a gateway to the Pacific Rim,
we get a lot of products
coming in from Asia.
More Gucci bags.
DON: And a lot of those
shipments are good to go,
but there are those shipments
that are indeed counterfeit.
OFFICER: This here is fake
because Louis Vuitton never stitch
over the LV, ever.
That, right there, tell you off
the bat that it's counterfeit.
DON: Uh, whether
they're in the cargo environment
or here in the passenger environment,
we see and CBP sees
counterfeit items all the time.
It says Rolex, but they're not real.
These are counterfeit items.
DON: On passengers, in their checked
luggage, their carry-on luggage,
day in and day out.
Whoa!
What'd you have to do? Sit on this thing?
This you?
Matches your shirt.
ALBRITTON: What brand is that?
Vivienne Westwood?
Okay.
And where do you stay
while you're in Japan?
ALBRITTON: Shibuya?
Do you go Do you go pretty often?
ALBRITTON:
Okay. Do you work while you're there?
ALBRITTON:
Supreme? Oh, you sell clothes?
Like, wholesale, retail?
ALBRITTON: Was that one
of your main reasons for going out there?
ALBRITTON: What do you do for work?
ALBRITTON: Okay. So,
who you shot videos for?
ALBRITTON: Yeah? How'd you get into it?
You go to school for that?
- MAN: No, I just kind of
- Picked up a camera one day and
ALBRITTON: Part of the inspection process,
at least for me when I want
the full story is to be running checks.
You want to make sure
their story makes sense to you.
Oh, this must be the kid.
So, it appears that Gabe of Uzi is a, uh,
well-known person that makes music videos.
I guess the, uh, flipping, uh,
clothing is a side hustle for him.
Yeah. That answers that question.
I'm thinking this guy,
uh, he's just into the fashion.
ALBRITTON: And he was
there checking it out.
Nothing wrong with that.
Right up there, you'd make
a left, right at the end.
Cool. Bye-bye.
WALTER: All right, guys. We got some
information from the HSI tip line.
A male is coming off of a flight
from Colombia with cocaine on him.
We passed the information over to CBP.
ELIAS: This is our subject right here.
Got it.
ELIAS: We'll pull him off the line
and then we'll do our thing over here.
We'll team up, one HSI with one CBP.
- Let's do this.
- ELIAS: Go, team.
WALTER: The challenge tonight
is we're gonna try to find this one person
in this river of people.
So, it's gonna be challenging.
That's crazy.
And look, and, and then,
and they're still coming.
If anybody had any doubts that JFK
is not one of the busiest airports, ever.
VINNY: You wanna check this side first?
I mean
WALTER: Hold on, he's checking over here.
VINNY: All right.
WALTER: Is he over there?
- JONATHAN: Got him?
- VINNY: We got him.
WALTER: Right here with the gray hat on.
Let him get his bag, once he gets
his bag, and then we'll grab him.
Yeah.
WOMAN: Once again,
for the information of passengers,
your bags are on carousel number two.
There are currently many similar
and even the same bag on the carousel.
WALTER: I just wanna see
if he hits that phone.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT)
All right, here we go.
Sending a message out.
VINNY: He's been rocking that phone
- since he's on that line.
- WALTER: Non-stop. Constant.
VINNY: There's no doubt
someone's waiting for him for something.
JONATHAN: He's doing a beeline.
WALTER: Straight through.
- Sorry, man.
- WALTER: Excuse me.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
- (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
- (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
JONATHAN: Tattoo machine.
JONATHAN: Oh.
JONATHAN:
The individual is a tattoo artist.
He had instruments on him that were
consistent with him being a tattoo artist.
He was allowed to have those needles
and he was good to have
that on his person.
WALTER: The bags are negative
right now, but again,
we got a tip that this guy is a courier.
WALTER: So we're gonna have CBP
pat him down, make sure he doesn't have
any narcotics
or any contraband on his person.
For all we know, he could have
a key of coke on his legs.
(HONKING)
URIARTE: This is coming from China?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
(BEEPING)
What we have here is shipment coming
from China, approximately 154 pieces.
DON: With counterfeit goods, you see
a variety of concealment methods.
And in cargo, it may be mismanifested,
hoping that the authorities
actually don't take a look at it.
OFFICER: Okay,
we've got some poultry here.
RODRIGUEZ: So, the shipment was declared
as animal products,
but for shipments that are coming in
from these high-risk countries,
we never know what we're gonna get.
So that's why we have to go delve deep
and make sure the shipment is compliant.
Nothing wrong with it.
OFFICER:
And we still have 153 boxes to go through.
Oh! This is counterfeit Louis Vuitton.
We know it's counterfeit because
Louis Vuitton wouldn't ship something
in a box that looks like this.
We have about three pallets
with merchandise on there.
Got a bunch of rings,
a bunch of Bracelets.
Chanel. Louis Vuitton.
RODRIGUEZ: This is all bootleg stuff.
It's obviously, uh,
trademark infringements.
Mostly all the Air Jordans
that we've got in this shipment,
they're pretty much the same, uh
- This style, right here?
- Same style.
There's a lot of stuff. (GRUNTS)
This was all one part of one big shipment,
so the shipment was declared
as animal products.
It was not.
ACOSTA: We're looking at close
to a half a million dollars'
worth of product.
OFFICER: This shipment
will be either destroyed
or re-exported to the country of origin.
Three Bulgari.
This volume, I see it personally about
once or twice a year in this port, LAX.
DON: A lot of people think it's not as if
I'm importing heroin or importing crates
of guns, but people produce counterfeits
because it makes them money.
The handbag that you might buy here
that's counterfeit,
that money may go back overseas
to fund a transnational
criminal organization.
As cliché as it sounds,
we're protecting the American public,
and we get a chance
to do that on a daily basis.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT ON PA)
WALTER: So far, the information
on the tipster has been negative.
CBP did a quick pat down,
that was negative.
I wanna make sure that this guy
did not swallow any narcotics.
So, we're gonna talk to him a little bit
and see what his true intentions are.
(VELASCO SPEAKING SPANISH)
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Okay.
(ZIPPING THE BAG OPEN)
VELASCO: Okay. Right.
Give me a second.
Hey, tell me what you see
wrong with this letter.
Just read it, sounds like a fugazi to me.
WALTER: The story sounds good on paper,
but there's something missing.
I mean he's got a seal and all that.
Like almost overdone?
WALTER: If there's smoke, there's fire,
and there's a lot of smoke on this one.
OFFICER: Spanish-American Institute?
ELIAS: It comes up?
WALTER: Yeah, but that don't mean
he's going there.
(VELASCO SPEAKING
FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
He said his father
is gonna take care of him.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WALTER: His father makes $6 million pesos,
which is an equivalent to only
$30,000 a year, U.S. dollars,
it's not a lot of money.
And they're sending him
to the United States to learn English.
New York City is one of the most expensive
cities to live in,
there's something missing in the math.
It's not adding up.
(VELASCO SPEAKING
FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
JONATHAN:
All right. Thanks, bro.
I appreciate it very much.
Bye.
School says they have a record on him.
We've done our research
and the information that he provided us
about this school adds up.
School actually exists.
It's a legitimate place.
So, we're gonna let him enter the country
and move on with his travel.
(WALTER SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WALTER: Today's tip
information turned out to be negative,
but we have to treat
all of the information we get
from the HSI tip line independently.
(INDISTINCT)
(WALTER SPEAKING
FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Sometimes it's just a poison
pen where it's an ex-lover or, uh,
someone that's upset but all we know
is that we got a tip that someone
is trying to bring some contraband
into the United States
and it's our job with CBP to make sure
we don't allow that to happen.
- JONATHAN: What are you gonna do?
- We, listen, we found him, right?
- ELIAS: Yeah.
- MAN: Yeah.
WALTER: That was half the battle, there.
VINNY: And you know what, this guy
will just be in our watch list.
- Yeah.
- WALTER: Thanks, guys.
VINNY: Yeah no problem.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT ON PA)
WALTER: Today was a long day.
- It's still not over.
- On your feet.
Nah, we're going all night.
We're going all night.
- MARTINEZ: Can I see your passport?
- Yeah.
Where are you coming from today?
Montego Bay?
Drugs can come at any time,
anyone can be carrying them.
No matter age, race,
where they're coming from.
Lot of products, huh?
- PASSENGER: Yup.
- MARTINEZ: So you can't get that here?
MARTINEZ: No.
Right now
we're just looking for behaviors,
uh, who's traveling with who.
OFFICER: Family, together?
- No.
- No? Solo?
You do have to have all your senses
ready to go at any time.
All right, buddy, put
your bag up here for me.
This passenger was coming from Amsterdam,
one of the countries we consider
high risk for narcotics.
As I'm going through the bags, I notice
that the passenger had an unusual amount
of lotions and shampoos for the amount
of time he was staying here.
The bottles were full, they felt heavy
and seemed to be very pasty,
kind of grainy,
and that's when I felt we had something.
Here's what we're gonna do, we're gonna go
talk in a private room, okay?
Just come with me, okay?
(AIRPLANE ENGINE SOUND)
GALARZA: In the passenger environment
we're most likely to find anywhere
from ounces of something that is, like,
personal use to a few kilos of narcotics.
Whereas in the cargo environment
or foreign mail facility,
you're looking for bigger quantities.
It is looking
for that needle in the haystack.
Typical concealment methods have
varied over the years so much.
Nothing surprises me anymore.
We've seen absolutely everything.
Absolutely everything.
KEARSE: Yeah, something is off.
Let's, let's look at it.
Looks like it could be suspected
of carrying some sort of narcotic.
When you see it on the image, sometimes
it's hard to tell what you're looking at.
It takes the officer to go in
to do a detailed examination.
You can't take it at face value.
They're in the hard plastic just like
you can find the coffee
at, at the local grocery store.
It looks like it's something
KEARSE: Looks like
it's something, and there you go.
It looks like it could be cocaine.
We don't know exactly
what we have in front of us.
We'll test it first.
A positive result for cocaine.
Nothing beats a physical exam.
If you're not experienced,
you're gonna take the top off
and, oh, everything looks good.
Nobody's tampered with it.
But based on experience of what we've seen
here, they know the smugglers
are gonna seal it up nice and neat
and make it look like
there's never been any tampering.
You can't beat experience.
What we discovered here
is 651 grams of cocaine,
which is a little over a half a key.
HSI will decide if they wanna proceed
with any further investigation.
And if they don't, we seize it
and it gets destroyed.
That's it
and we're on to the next shipment.
A lot relies on the officers,
but we do a pretty good job
at finding a lot of stuff.
That's for sure.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT ON PA)
MARTINEZ: So, we found a passenger
coming from Amsterdam.
It's one of those flights
that can be bringing drugs and narcotics.
During the bag exam, I noticed
the lotion bottles he had with him.
One of the bottles seemed to be,
uh, very pasty, kind of grainy.
That's something we've seen
before in other seizures.
MARTINEZ: Uh, combination.
MARTINEZ: And really the reason I kept it
- was the powderiness.
- Yeah.
We have the passenger in the pat down room
and we're going to be testing the bottles
to see exactly what it is
and we'll move on from there.
MATTHEW: All right.
MATTHEW: Some of them are liquid.
Some of them are powder.
OFFICER: Okay.
MATTHEW: We're gonna test it with Gemini.
It scans the contents
of hard objects or liquids.
Ketamine hydrochloride.
JONATHAN: Ketamine,
street name's Special K.
It's a big club drug.
Basically removes
the person from their body.
In the past, it was being stolen
mostly from veterinary offices.
Now, we're starting to see a lot of it
being smuggled in
from outside the country.
OFFICER:
Now, we're gonna get a gross weight.
MATTHEW: Those are all of them,
right there.
OFFICER: The gross weight
is 4.279 kilograms.
So, we're looking at a little
under $90,000 in street value.
To get four and a quarter keys
off the street,
that's a pretty good hit.
This is pretty significant.
OFFICER: So now, the gentleman's
gonna be processed here.
OFFICER: The case
was a subject for prosecution.
A great one for the team.
- OFFICER: Thank you, guys.
- All right. Take it easy.
Take it easy, guys.
MARTINEZ: It's good to get
those drugs off the street.
Definitely makes a big impact
and it helps you keep doing your job
and fueling you more to try to catch it.
- Great job, man. That's awesome.
- Thanks. We appreciate,
- I mean, coming out, coming out.
- No. You kidding me, dude?
- You guys are awesome. Cold stop, right?
- Taking care of everything.
- Yeah.
- No, uh, no info
- on this ahead of time?
- No info. No info.
JONATHAN: I love that.
MARTINEZ: It feels good. It feels good
to be able to say I've completed a mission
and work as a team, the HSI agents'
response in this case was excellent.
They were there ready to go
with everything they needed
so we could just smoothly transition
everything to them.
I like it when a plan comes together.
Yeah, dude.
OFFICER: Teamwork
makes the dream work, man. Good job.
(LAUGHTER)
Operation Blue Blend. One force. One team.
That's some ketamine
that's never gonna make it
to the streets of New York.
And that's what we're here to do.