ACTING_SUPERVISORY_AGENT_CONNOR AGENT ANNOUNCER CBP_OFFICER CHIEF_AUGUSTINO HSI_AGENT OFFICER OFFICER_HERNANDEZ OFFICER_HICKMAN OFFICER_SANDERS OFFICER_TORRES OFFICER_VILLAFANE PA_ANNOUNCER SUPERVISORY_OFFICER_BONILLA SUPERVISORY_OFFICER_HUNDAL SUPERVISORY_OFFICER_MONTEZ SUPERVISOR_GALLEGOS TRAVELER

HSI AGENT
He's very jumpy.  Be prepared, he's probably gonna speed.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
One of my teammates has picked up a car that we have information to believe that it's loaded full of drugs.  We were hoping to get out ahead of him, but he bypassed our exit and now we gotta catch up a little bit.
HSI AGENT
Off…
HSI AGENT
Off…
HSI AGENT
…on Main Street.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
Didn't anticipate that one.
HSI AGENT
In the right-hand turn lane at the bottom of the ramp.
HSI AGENT
And he's away, eastbound.
HSI AGENT
I think he's in a hurry.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
It's pretty textbook countersurveillance.  We don't know how far this is going.  If he's nervous, I want him to calm down.  So we're gonna give him some space.
HSI AGENT
He's continuing eastbound in the Two.
HSI AGENT
He's coming up to the light.
HSI AGENT
He'll be in the left-hand turn pocket.
HSI AGENT
All right.  U-turn, U-turn.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
U-turn.  There he is.

HSI AGENT
Westbound change over to the Two.
HSI AGENT
He's passing traffic, so I think he's moving at a decent clip.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
He's up to something.  When you do this job long enough, you see the same patterns and behavior over and over again.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
This is indicative behavior of not only somebody who's involved in something right now but also probably doesn't have a strong constitution for it.  Like he, he gets nervous easily.
HSI AGENT
He just went by me.  He's on the phone.
HSI AGENT
Looks like he's setting up to turn into the shopping center.
HSI AGENT
He just parked there, sitting in the car for now.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
All right.  I gotta get a better sense of where he is.  I can see the car.
HSI AGENT
Alright he just got out, and he's walking towards the store.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
He could be distancing himself from the car, only to come back to the car and then drive it somewhere.  Or someone is coming to pick it up.  And sometimes the, the two people don't interact, or don't wanna see each other.  This is very common.  We see this every week.  It only heightens our suspicions that this is a load vehicle.

SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
We're going to conduct a currency stop on an outbound flight going to Agrogana.
PA ANNOUNCER
Please have your passport in hand along with your boarding pass as you board.  Limited overhead bin space.  You're welcome to board.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
We've seen a lot of outbound, unreported currency on this flight.
CBP OFFICER
Can I see your passport real quick?
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
We're talking to people to make sure they're in compliance with the currency reporting requirements.
TRAVELER
Okay.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
All right?  So if you have more than ten thousand dollars, you have to tell us about it and we have to have you fill out a report.  We want to make sure that that money is not illicit funds for terrorist organizations, drug trafficking, criminal organizations, human trafficking, things like that.  How much are you traveling with?
TRAVELER
The one cash in my passport right now, in my wallet right now is two hundred dollars.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
Okay.  Have a safe trip home.
TRAVELER
Of course.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
Appreciate it.

CHIEF AUGUSTINO
A red flag, just behavior, not making eye contact.  When you say something like ten thousand dollars, normal people aren't carrying that.  So the people who don't react, that's kind of the ones that I say, "All right.  Maybe I need to look a little further."

SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
This way, guys.  This way.  All the way to the gate.

CBP OFFICER
Step over here with me real quick.  Okay.  So.
CBP OFFICER
How much do you think you have on you right now?
CBP OFFICER
Twenty?  Anything over ten must be reported, right?  You understood that?
TRAVELER
I understood what you said but I didn't know that.
CBP OFFICER
Well, go ahead and fill out this form real quick.
TRAVELER
Can I ask why?
TRAVELER
You think I, I'm lying or what?
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
Well, I mean, most people aren't lying.  But our job is to verify.
CBP OFFICER
Twenty thousand two hundred, that's what you're reporting?
TRAVELER
Yes.
CBP OFFICER
Okay.  So we're gonna verify the count now.
CBP OFFICER
Do you have a wallet on you, sir?
TRAVELER
I don't have a wallet.  I don't carry a wallet.
CBP OFFICER
Any, anything in your pockets?
CBP OFFICER
Empty your pockets.  Empty it.
TRAVELER
Yup.  I'm gonna.
TRAVELER
Get everything out for you.
CBP OFFICER
All right, sir.  You have, that's ten and ten, twenty.  Hold that in your hand.  So far, what you've declared and reported is correct.  Twenty thousand two hundred.  Got everything?
CBP OFFICER
Thank you.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
Have a good day, sir.
CBP OFFICER
Thank you, sir.
CBP OFFICER
Thank you.
PA ANNOUNCER
Ladies and gentlemen, this will serve as a final boarding.
PA ANNOUNCER
Announcement for Flight 2450.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
Nobody with unreported currency, however, we did find some people who were not in compliance.  So a lot of money that we weren't aware of is now being tracked.  And we'll make record of that, so if we get him again and they're still not compliant, you know, it might be different that time.

CBP OFFICER
Hi.  [speaking Spanish] Good day.  [speaking English] Anything you guys purchased or bringing back from Mexico?
TRAVELER
Just a couple groceries.
CBP OFFICER
Groceries?  Okay.
TRAVELER
Not groceries, but, like.
TRAVELER
Waters.
TRAVELER
Waters and stuff.
CBP OFFICER
Okay.  Open the trunk for me, please.
TRAVELER
Yes, sir.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER MONTEZ
Calexico is a very large area.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER MONTEZ
Not only the Imperial Valley in the U.S. side, but MexiCali also has a very large community.
CBP OFFICER
Sometimes we check it underneath to make sure there's nothing concealed under the legitimate product that they bought in Mexico.
SUPERVISOR GALLEGOS
The population is growing.
SUPERVISOR GALLEGOS
On both sides of the border, we process approximately ninety-four thousand vehicles on a weekly average.
CBP OFFICER
[speaking Spanish] Go ahead.
TRAVELER
[speaking Spanish] Thank you.
SUPERVISOR GALLEGOS
Mainly here, the travelers are commuters.  They are going back and forth on a daily basis.

CBP OFFICER
Where are you going?
TRAVELER
Palm Desert.
CBP OFFICER
Palm Desert.  At the west port of entry in Calexico, smugglers tend to use the gas tanks as common methods of concealment.
SUPERVISOR GALLEGOS
Methamphetamines, cocaine, and heroin we do see from time to time.  However, fentanyl is the leading narcotic seized at the area port of Calexico.
CBP OFFICER
[speaking Spanish] Have a good one.
CBP OFFICER
[speaking Spanish] See you soon.

CBP OFFICER
Primary lanes, stop all traffic.
CBP OFFICER
We're conducting a lockdown.  It's an operation where we stop the flow of traffic and we have our K-Nines screen all the vehicles for narcotics.
CBP OFFICER
There's something there, huh?  There's a positive alert.
CBP OFFICER
Check it.
CBP OFFICER
Refer to secondary.
CBP OFFICER
Yeah.  K-Nine alerted towards the back in the gas tank.  It's a white Honda CR-V.  We're gonna take it onto the lift and do a further examination on it.
CBP OFFICER
[speaking Spanish] Is it fine there?
CBP OFFICER
Look at that.
CBP OFFICER
You see the-the screw right there is tampered.
CBP OFFICER
Yeah.
CBP OFFICER
Right now, we'll bring it down and we're gonna take off the seat and see if we can get access to the sending unit which is for the gas tank.  See if there's anything that looks different.
CBP OFFICER
Look, there's tampering.
CBP OFFICER
See how there's tampering right there.  Or this one right here.
CBP OFFICER
The sending unit is, like, right here in the middle.  There was nothing there.  It's good to go.  We found a couple screws that were tampered with.  Sometimes they mess with it, getting it ready to possibly load the vehicle in the future.  The dog could have alerted at something else.  Maybe the traveler's a user.  At this point, we don't, we're not a hundred percent sure, but as of now it was a negative result.  We'll release him north.

HSI AGENT
I got him.  He's near the front.

ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
Is he on foot, away from the stores?
HSI AGENT
No, he's inside.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
Ten-four.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
Our original driver is walking around the stores.  It's not normal behavior if you're normal, but it's normal behavior if you're into smuggling.  Never a dull moment.  That's what makes this job fun.
HSI AGENT
Hey, where is S-One right now?
HSI AGENT
We don't have the best eye.
HSI AGENT
The last time I saw him.
HSI AGENT
He was still in the store.
HSI AGENT
We should probably do a security sweep of the store.
HSI AGENT
Copy.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
We're gonna shift over a little bit and try to help locate our original driver.
HSI AGENT
Maybe he moved somewhere else in the lot.
HSI AGENT
Okay.  Per store manager.
HSI AGENT
S-One came in and.
HSI AGENT
Said that he was gonna get jumped.
HSI AGENT
That manager let him exit through the back.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
He got about a twenty-minute head start.  He could be anywhere, honestly, at this point.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
HSI AGENT
I hate to say it, but if he was that spooked.
HSI AGENT
That he had to escape out the rear.
HSI AGENT
I don't know how good our chances are.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
He could have gotten picked up.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
I think it's unlikely that he will come back to this car.  I think someone else may come for it now.  So now, we're gonna shift our attention back to the vehicle.  We have a good ID on him, at least we think we do.  We'll be able to work up our investigation.  We're pretty good at finding people.  Maybe not at the moment that we want them, but we eventually get them.  So now we sit and we wait.  Been here a couple of hours.  Just hasn't been any updates or any movement.  It's definitely not abandoned for good, just a matter of how long are they willing to wait for it.
HSI AGENT
A car just creeped up.
HSI AGENT
Door is open.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
We've got movement.  A white SUV, nose-to-nose with it.  It looks like a female is out.  That other car is away and is headed out for the parking lot.
HSI AGENT
She's shining her flashlight inside V-One.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
This is weird.  Okay, new SUV.  Dark SUV just slowed and stopped.
HSI AGENT
Subject out.
HSI AGENT
At the trunk of V-One, moving to the front door.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
He's got his flashlight on on his phone.  He's looking in the window.  I can't tell what he's doing.  I mean, when he puts his flashers on and he's got a headlamp, he's not being inconspicuous.  You think this could be, like, a mobile locksmith?
HSI AGENT
Right.  Right.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
He may have been hired to come start the car.  The locksmith is pulled away and looks like brake lights on.  Headlights on.  Stand by.  V-One is working its way towards the exit.  Stick with that car.
HSI AGENT
All right, we got it.  Eastbound.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
Our new driver picked up the car.  We're not really sure who she is yet.  We're gonna keep an eye on her for a minute until we can get a better ID.  Okay.
HSI AGENT
They're over in the number three lane.
HSI AGENT
And she turned into the Shell station.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
Of course.
HSI AGENT
Gassing the vehicle.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
I don't like that she's gassing up.  Might be an indication that she intends to hit the highway, maybe to head north.  Los Angeles is about a two-hour drive and is a major distribution hub for the west coast for narcotics trafficking.
HSI AGENT
She's parking.
HSI AGENT
Our vehicle's off.
HSI AGENT
She's getting out the vehicle now.
HSI AGENT
Door locked.
HSI AGENT
Looks like she's taking pictures of where the car's at.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
All right.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
We're gonna move again.
HSI AGENT
Looks like she's taking pictures of the street.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
It sounds like she's giving geographical references like taking photos of the street sign, the things in the buildings around it.  They can relay that information to either the next pick-up crew or the owner of the narcotics to show them that it's safe and not seized.  We don't know if this is overnight now or whatever, but a lot of hard work has gone into this.  We want to see the fruits of our labor.  So our main focus is on the car.  We're gonna stick with the vehicle and we're gonna see it through.

PA ANNOUNCER
Please proceed to Gate A-Twenty for boarding of your flight.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
Hey, miss.  How are you?  May I see your documents, please?  How much currency are you traveling with?
TRAVELER
I have seven thousand in, in American dollars and, like, four hundred euro.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
Okay.  Well, thank you very much, miss.
TRAVELER
Oh, yeah.  Of course.  Thank you.

CHIEF AUGUSTINO
We're here with our K-Nine currency dog.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
This is a flight that we know a lot of people are traveling with cash, so we're looking for currency compliance.
CBP OFFICER
Next.
CBP OFFICER
He's tracing odor.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
Oh, okay.
CBP OFFICER
Right there.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
Okay.  I'm, I'm gonna take him back, Chief.
CBP OFFICER
Okay.  This way.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
The dog did get an alert.  Um, so we're gonna just verify the amount of currency they have.
CBP OFFICER
Step over here for me.  What's your final destination?
TRAVELER
Pakistan.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
How long are you gonna be out of the United States, sir?
TRAVELER
Two months.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
Two months?  You have a return ticket for two months?
TRAVELER
Yeah.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
How much cash are you traveling with?
TRAVELER
So I have six thousand.
TRAVELER
Six or seven something here.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
How much does she have?
TRAVELER
Yes.
TRAVELER
Same thing.  Seven thousand something.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
So we're gonna do this form over here.  You understand and read English okay?
TRAVELER
No.
TRAVELER
Punjabi.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
Hundal?
SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
Yeah.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
Can you explain to him in Punjabi the currency reporting requirements?
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
Does he know how much he has now?
SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
He don't know.  He wanna count.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
I don't believe his story.  Tell him to count it.

TRAVELER
No.
OFFICER TORRES
We're doing enforcement before they get to the primary booths and make entry into the United States.
OFFICER TORRES
We're looking for suspicious drivers.  Sometimes some drivers get nervous when they see you out here.  Their attitude changes.  They, they grip the steering wheel a little harder.
CBP OFFICER
All good?
OFFICER
Yeah.
OFFICER
All right.
OFFICER TORRES
Sometimes it's hit-and-miss.  Sometimes you're just lucky, just go tap a tank and it sounds hard and, and there it is.
OFFICER
Dog is tracing odor.
OFFICER
So, you see, this is the full tank?
OFFICER
Yeah.
OFFICER
Or, or, or something going on there, bro.
OFFICER
Let's see what we can do.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

OFFICER VILLAFANE
Yeah, bro.  It's hard.
OFFICER
It's hard?
OFFICER VILLAFANE
And I tapped it and it felt solid.  It shouldn't feel solid like concrete.
OFFICER VILLAFANE
So that's what, what's, we wanna verify it to make sure what's going on down that, uh, specifically on the tank area.
OFFICER VILLAFANE
We're gonna use what we call a scope.  It's like a small camera inside the tank.
OFFICER
I don't see anything.  There's nothing in here.
OFFICER TORRES
[speaking Spanish] Sir!
OFFICER TORRES
[speaking Spanish] Okay, thank you very much.
TRAVELER
[speaking Spanish] No, thank you.  Stay safe.
OFFICER TORRES
It's negative.  So we're gonna let the traffic move a little bit and, uh, we'll go back out there with the K-Nine and we'll see what happens.

SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
[speaking Punjabi] Fine, you can count.
TRAVELER
[speaking Punjabi] I am doing it now.

SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
[speaking Punjabi] Give us a guess how much money is it.  Okay.
TRAVELER
Sixteen, seventeen.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
Seventeen?
TRAVELER
Something like this, yes.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
Okay.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
[speaking Punjabi] Please write it here.
TRAVELER
What's that?
SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
Write slowly.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
[speaking Punjabi] Total amount is seventeen thousand dollars.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
There was some typical tell-tale signs he was not comfortable telling us how much money he's traveling.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
[speaking Punjabi] Well, you two just stand here.  So him being reluctant on his initial declaration, you know, made me go into thinking I need to do a verification on this.  I need to conduct a bag exam.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
As he was counting the money, his hands were shaking a lot.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
Um, that's behavior of nervousness.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
Behavior you might be concealing something.  Twelve twenty-five.  All right.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
All right, boss.  So you're about two thousand four hundred and eighty bucks off here, okay?  That's a reasonable error considering the amount of money you're traveling with.  You weren't a hundred percent sure.  So I just, I made a change here and I need you to initial next to it, okay?
TRAVELER
Sure.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
Between both of them having that much difference is, uh, it could be considered significant, but it might be they might be nervous.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
In the future, count it and tell us.
TRAVELER
Yeah.
CHIEF AUGUSTINO
No problem, okay?  All right.
TRAVELER
Okay.  Thank you.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
Some countries or cultures have, have this issue with having interaction with the law enforcement.
TRAVELER
Thank you.  Thank you.  Bye.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER HUNDAL
Thank you.  Thank you.  So in this situation, given their language barrier, given the whole totality of the circumstance, uh, we gave them the benefit of the doubt.  And they will continue their way to Pakistan.


HSI AGENT
You said you have eyes on view, right?
HSI AGENT
Yeah, she's moving westbound.
HSI AGENT
I got her.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
After a long night of no activity, the female, who originally parked it here last night, is now.
HSI AGENT
Left on Georgia.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
Mobile again.
HSI AGENT
Looks like she's in that Shell.
HSI AGENT
Right at the corner.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
Last night she came to the same gas station, pumped a couple gallons.  But I can't imagine that, uh, she needs any more gas.  No change.  She's just sitting there.  I'm green to go, so I'm losing my eye.  It could be countersurveillance, but it, it also could just be someone killing time and not having a destination to go to yet.  It's a challenge to kind of piece it all together.  I'm set up Five North, on the ramp.
HSI AGENT
V-One is moving.
HSI AGENT
On.  On.  On.  Five North.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
All right.  I think I have her by the nose in a couple hundred yards.  The number three lane.  I'm ahead of the vehicle and we're coming up to a major highway split.  Eight-oh-five North or Fifteen.  And I don't know which one she's gonna take, so I got a fifty-fifty shot.  I'm gonna go Fifteen.
HSI AGENT
Ten-four.
HSI AGENT
She is signaling.
HSI AGENT
Off.  Off.  Off.  Eight-oh-five North.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
Yup.  Well, fifty-fifty.  I just got completely blocked.  You guys can get eyes on.
HSI AGENT
I don't have her.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
So now we gotta be creative to catch up.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
HSI AGENT
I got her.
HSI AGENT
Seventy-eight eastbound.  Fifty-eight miles per hour (25 meters per second).

ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
I'm back on the right highway.  We just gotta follow her and, and figure out where she's going.
HSI AGENT
Looks like she might have exited.
HSI AGENT
Off.  Off.  Off.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
Interesting.  We do this long enough, you, you seem to go to the same cities or the same routes over and over again.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
And this is not the same.  This is unique.
HSI AGENT
S-One just turned into a residential.
HSI AGENT
We just have air going for now.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
We were able to get an airship overhead, which is a huge plus for us.  Makes it a lot easier for us to be down here on the ground and not be so close.  And I don't want to pop up right in their face.
HSI AGENT
All right.
HSI AGENT
Looks like this car just pulled to curb.
HSI AGENT
Unknown male approaching the vehicle.
HSI AGENT
We're calling this S-Two.
HSI AGENT
S-Two is at the window.
HSI AGENT
S-Two is now walking away from the car.
HSI AGENT
It was hard to tell if there was any exchange.
HSI AGENT
S-One is out of the car.
HSI AGENT
Walking to the same house where S-Two went to.
HSI AGENT
S-One is out of sight.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
We're at, easily, twenty-eight, twenty-nine hours.  We're waiting for that one final act that maybe other people arrive to assist with either removing drugs or preparing them for further distribution.  These are long days and long nights, but my team doesn't like to lose.  And so, we wanna see this ultimately end with us arresting the people responsible for this smuggling event.  And stopping these drugs from ever hitting the streets.


OFFICER
All right, guys, you're gonna go to secondary real quick.  Have you been to secondary before?
TRAVELER
No.
OFFICER
Uh, there's gonna be some yellow poles.  You're gonna drive through the little x-ray machine and they'll inspect you from there, all right?
OFFICER
Can we have an officer go take a look at a white SUV?  Parked at Bravo Two.  Um, check the gas tank, please.
OFFICER
Ten-four.
OFFICER
This is a gas tank scope.  We're gonna scope the gas tank.  I see white bag concealed packages inside the gas tank.
OFFICER
Easy-peasy.
OFFICER
Taking it to the lift to check the gas tank.

ANNOUNCER
This is the final warning [inaudible]
OFFICER SANDERS
Everyone, passports out, guys.  Everyone have their passports out.
OFFICER
All right.  Hey, have a good flight, all right?
TRAVELER
Thank you very much.
OFFICER SANDERS
How are you?  You have your passport, sir?
TRAVELER
Yes.
OFFICER SANDERS
Is anyone else traveling with you?
TRAVELER
Just me.
OFFICER SANDERS
All righty, so what we're doing is outbound currency inspections today.
TRAVELER
Okay.
OFFICER SANDERS
How much cash or currency are you currently carrying out with you?
TRAVELER
I have ten thousand.
TRAVELER
And then I have, uh, just a few change.
OFFICER SANDERS
Come with me real quick, sir.  Fill out all the highlighted areas for me.
TRAVELER
All right.
OFFICER SANDERS
What is the cash for?
TRAVELER
My family is there.  We need some money to spend for holiday.
OFFICER SANDERS
I hear ya.  I hear ya.  All righty, if I can get you to pull out all your cash for me and set all your cash on the table.  Just gonna do a quick verification of everything.  So five thousand, five thousand, and seventeen.  All righty, you're good to go.  I think the, the airline is waiting for you.
TRAVELER
Okay.
OFFICER SANDERS
Enjoy your flight.
TRAVELER
Okay.  Thank you.
OFFICER
Okay.
OFFICER
So you have eleven thousand?
OFFICER
You just have to fill this out.
OFFICER
Where you're going in Cameroon.
OFFICER
And the amount you've declared today, okay?  All right.  Oh, the number's changed, huh?
TRAVELER
Uh-hmm.
OFFICER
So you have twenty-four thousand.
OFFICER
How come you told my partner here you only had eleven thousand?
TRAVELER
I was panicked.  That's the honest truth.
OFFICER
Why do you have to panic?  You just tell the truth.
OFFICER
So we're just verifying the currency right now.
OFFICER
Where did you get the money from?
TRAVELER
I work.
OFFICER
What do you do?
TRAVELER
I'm a nurse.
OFFICER
What is the purpose of the, the cash that you're carrying out?
TRAVELER
Like, for funeral preparation.
OFFICER
All this money for a funeral?
OFFICER
How much cash?
OFFICER
Verbal, eleven.  Twenty-four, I count twenty-seven.
OFFICER
Wow.
OFFICER
The difference in what you told us verbally versus what you wrote down versus what we counted, are three different amounts.
TRAVELER
What, what, what could I lie for?
TRAVELER
That is the honest truth.
OFFICER SANDERS
This guy's story has changed so many times, it's hard to believe that it's for a legit purpose.
OFFICER
What do you get out of not being truthful?
TRAVELER
I was all scared.
TRAVELER
This is my first time.
TRAVELER
It's not like I'm a thief.
TRAVELER
I'm, I'm, I'm not a thief.
OFFICER
I don't believe you're a thief.  But my thing is now we have this whole debacle, because we don't know if you're telling us the truth now.  Right now, I'm, I'm having a hard time believing that this money is yours.  This is not your money.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
OFFICER
I just want to make sure I'm understanding clearly.
TRAVELER
Okay.
OFFICER
Listen, wait.  Calm down before you speak.  Who does this money belong to?
TRAVELER
All is my money.
OFFICER
All is your money?
TRAVELER
Yes.

OFFICER SANDERS
So he's going to Cameroon?
OFFICER
Yeah.
OFFICER SANDERS
Cameroon.  We've been seeing a lot of the ketamine coming back from Cameroon.  And that's his destination.  So what is he actually taking the money into Cameroon for?
OFFICER SANDERS
We definitely have more unknowns as to what's going on with this guy.  We're still trying to verify where he got the money from, what the purpose of this money is, and see if there's anything else that we need to actually look into.
OFFICER
What illegal activity could be going on in Cameroon that you don't wanna report this money?
TRAVELER
I'm going for a funeral.
TRAVELER
That's all.
TRAVELER
That is the reason.
OFFICER HICKMAN
We listen to these stories every day.
TRAVELER
Officer, I don't tell lies.
TRAVELER
This is a mistake.
TRAVELER
I'm not a thief.
TRAVELER
I don't steal.
OFFICER
Nobody's accusing you of stealing.  We're just trying to figure out where this money came from and where it's going.
TRAVELER
Actually.
TRAVELER
It's a, it's a group money.
OFFICER HICKMAN
So you're carrying money for other people.
TRAVELER
Let me just explain it to you, all right?
TRAVELER
We have 20 of us.
TRAVELER
We pay a $1,000 dollars every two weeks.
OFFICER HICKMAN
Uh-hmm.
TRAVELER
So, I told my brother.
TRAVELER
When I'm going to Africa I'll come and pick up the money up.
TRAVELER
We’ll have a death celebration in Africa.
OFFICER SANDERS
Money for your family member who passed?  For a celebration?
TRAVELER
Yeah, for the funeral.
TRAVELER
That is the only reason.
OFFICER
I've seen before the whole family puts money together into a pool.
OFFICER HICKMAN
Into, like, a pot.
OFFICER
Take it down there.  Do it for the funeral, for the family.
OFFICER HICKMAN
Okay.
OFFICER
If it's family stuff.
OFFICER
Then we'll cut him loose from here.
OFFICER
No seizure.
OFFICER HICKMAN
All right, let's go.
TRAVELER
Thank you, officer.
OFFICER HICKMAN
So let this be a lesson.
TRAVELER
Thank you.
OFFICER HICKMAN
This doesn't happen every day.  Okay?  You got everything you need?
TRAVELER
Yes. Thank you, officer.
OFFICER
We chose to let him keep his money.  It was declared.  We have, uh, a report on that.  So it's recorded that he exited with this amount of money.  And so when he comes back, we'll see what he has with him and what he spent it on.  Overall, this was a good inspection.  We got some good Intel on it.  He got lucky and got on his flight.  And we're headed to the next one.


OFFICER
Oh, wow.
OFFICER
It's a pretty big load.
OFFICER
We can see the packages.  But the hole is too narrow, so we're gonna cut with the chainsaw so we can make a bigger hole and extract the packages out of the gas tank.  Let's do it.
OFFICER HERNANDEZ
Ready when you are.
OFFICER
Okay.  Let's put these in a bucket.  Let's extract the packages.
OFFICER HERNANDEZ
One.
OFFICER
Two.
OFFICER HERNANDEZ
Two.
OFFICER
Three.
OFFICER HERNANDEZ
Three.
OFFICER
Four.
OFFICER HERNANDEZ
Four.
OFFICER
Five, six, seven.  Let's get a light.
OFFICER HERNANDEZ
I found something.  There's some tampering here.
OFFICER HERNANDEZ
We should tell them to drop this too, just to make sure that there's nothing in there.  Packages, uh, have been found in different parts of the vehicle, so it wouldn't be a surprise if we find something else somewhere.  So, we'll see.
OFFICER
You found it?
OFFICER
[speaking Spanish] There's no oil coming out.
OFFICER
There's no oil coming out, so it's probably loaded.
OFFICER
What's that?
OFFICER
Oh, yeah.
OFFICER
You got more right here.

AGENT
Garage door's open.
AGENT
V-One is inside the garage.
AGENT
But it's dark and it's quiet.
AGENT
Doesn't look like anything is being worked on.

ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
It sounds like our car that's been parked out on the street for the last couple hours, uh, has now been moved into the garage.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
Our thought process is, is if they're moving the car into the garage, it's so that they can begin the unload process.  This is what these long days are for, is if this is the location that they've been using to unload drug vehicles, then this is what we wanna disrupt.  This is what we wanna take out of the equation.  Um, and then identify any of the people who are associated with this house.
AGENT
Red car with lights off.
AGENT
Pulling into the house.
AGENT
Someone's in the front yard.  Looks like a.
AGENT
Flashlight looking around.
AGENT
They're spraying the hose on the driveway.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
It's an odd time to be watering the lawn.  Maybe they're washing down the driveway, getting rid of something.
AGENT
I hear electrical tools and loud noises.
AGENT
Coming from the garage.
AGENT
We're not a hundred percent what's going on in the garage.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
I think she's using the water hose to cover the sounds in the garage.  It looks like they might be getting ready to unload.
AGENT
We're clear for the approach and.
AGENT
Landing at the residence.
AGENT
Ten-four.
AGENT
Moving.
AGENT
That's a go.  Go, go, go.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
Squirters.  Out the back.  Three running out the back.
AGENT
Police!
AGENT
Don't move!
AGENT
Come on out!
AGENT
Police!
AGENT
All occupants exit the front door with your hands up!
AGENT
Police!  Police!
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
AGENT
Put your hands down!
AGENT
Hey.  Put the phone down!
AGENT
Keep walking towards me!
AGENT
Turn around.
AGENT
Hands behind your back.

AGENT
You, over here.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
I think two came out the front.
AGENT
Okay.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
So a total of five people are in custody.
ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
I think they were in the beginning stages of unloading that car, so we gotta start with the whole round of we're gonna do a dog sniff and photos, and it's gonna take a minute.  That's a good hit.  Hey, that's also an alert.  Our dog hit on both our target car as well as the additional car that's in the garage.  And then there is a, I guess you would call it, a bedroom, it's hard to tell because there's no furniture, with some roller bag suitcases.  The dog hit in that room as well.  Some of the packaging matches some of the drugs that were found in the car.  Uh, so, even though it made it into the house, it's likely that it came out of that car.  A number of the other drug packages are totally different markings, maybe even a different substance.  So that likely came from another smuggling event.  Uh, there's also bundles of cash in there.  Uh, thousands and thousands of dollars.
AGENT
Got one right here and two back here.

ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
The drugs are getting taken down to the port and then, um, deposited into a secure vault.

ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
All of the individuals that we took into custody will be interviewed, processed, and then submitted for, uh, prosecution.  This type of operation is our definition of success.  It was two very long days, but we were getting multiple arrests.  People that are trying to bring poison into our country and profit from it.


ACTING SUPERVISORY AGENT CONNOR
All of these drugs were intended to go farther into the interior.  Um, from Los Angeles to Detroit and Chicago, everything along the way.  But they're not going there now.  They're off the streets.

OFFICER HERNANDEZ
So we got two more packages here.

OFFICER
Let me get a test kit right now.
OFFICER
This is the first batch inside the gas tank.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER BONILLA
We don't know what it is right now.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER BONILLA
We suspect that it's narcotics.  But if it's fentanyl, it's, uh, very contaminate, very dangerous to anybody to inhale, or be around the toxins around it.  I'm able to see some white contents, white powder.  We're gonna take this strip here and place it inside there.  It looks like I have one red line.  So this package is, uh, positive for fentanyl.  And we're gonna treat all the rest of these packages like they're fentanyl for the safety of the officers.  We found another package in a different area.  We have to test those packages.  I didn't get a positive test with this.  So I don't believe it's fentanyl at this time.  So we're gonna take the package to another location and we're gonna test it for cocaine.  I just gotta agitate it.  And I got a purple color, which is, uh, tells me this is a positive for properties of, uh, cocaine.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER BONILLA
2.28 kilograms (5 pounds).  And then now we're putting these packages that were found inside the gas tank.  We got a total weight.

OFFICER HERNANDEZ
The drugs, they start here, but they go across the nation.  So it was a good day.  It's a huge one for us.
OFFICER HERNANDEZ
We got over a $150,000 of fentanyl and cocaine off the streets.

OFFICER HERNANDEZ
I've been here for two years and this is my first one.  It's amazing.  That's what I signed up for, to take those things off the streets.  For our kids, for your kids, for everyone's kids.