01x05 - Seaweed

[bunniefuu]

One thousand miles off the southeast

coast of Florida

lies the US territory of Puerto Rico.

A major hub for international drug

smuggling through the Caribbean Sea.

Tonight, agents are battling against

high winds and stormy seas.

Last position, three miles

in front of you.

Those coordinates are approximate

ten minutes old.

We'll check it out.

I'll let you know.

They have been tipped off

a boat full of drugs

s is headed towards Vieques,

a small island off the east coast

of Puerto Rico

that falls under their jurisdiction.

Get your r*fle we are about to get closer.

As they approach Vieques

waves are crashing,

as a tropical storm is closing in.

We have lightning in the area.

I don't see any boat.

Do you see lights?

I'm just looking for like

a reflection off something.

Right now, we haven't seen anything.

We're still scanning.

Criminals can offload millions

of dollars worth of narcotics

from a boat in a matter of minutes.

- I think we are too late.

- Yes, me too.

We haven't seen any flashlights

giving us indication of a pick-up crew.

The search is hampered by more

reports of bad weather.

If we don't find anything we'll head back,

because we have lightning nearby.

Safety is first.

- It's real bad out.

- We have to go guys.

The g*ng may have evaded authorities

this time,

but the search will continue tomorrow.

It's dangerous. We want to make it to

the office before it gets any worse.

US Customs!

They're non-compliant, non-compliant!

Go, go, go, go, go!

One thousand miles to the west

of Puerto Rico is Fort Lauderdale,

on Florida's east coast.

FLORIDA

FORT LAUDERDALE

It's early morning and Agent Dan and

his team are starting their shift.

On board are Alex and Rob.

I expect a lot of outbound traffic

and see what we see,

stop a few boats, and maybe

even get some in-bound traffic

trying to mix in with the fishermen.

It's not long before they receive

a call from air support

about a boat smuggling people,

just 10 miles out.

We have a target coming in from Bimini.

- Would you be able to do a stop?

- Ten-four, copy.

They're looking for a 25 ft sports

fishing boat, traveling at 10 knots,

coming in-bound from Bimini

in the Bahamas.

Ten-four, keep eyes on them.

We'll head that way.

- You guys good?

- Yes.

Vessel commander Dan

heads their way at top speed.

Confirm that is your target.

During air support's patrol

of international waters,

they saw two men scurry below

the deck of the boat,

trying to hide them from their view.

- Eyes on.

- Windshield down.

- I think I see two people.

- I see two. Two on board.

How you doing Captain? U.S. Customs.

Where are you guys coming from?

- Fishing.

- Where are you coming from?

Bimini.

How many people you got on board?

The men claim to be just out fishing,

but agents have heard this excuse

before from people smugglers.

Four people on board?

Slowly come out.

Be aware, be aware.

Kind of weird to have two people of

four in a cabin on a boat this size

when it's so hot, it could be

a migrant venture.

We'll figure it out.

Sir, could you move that fishing

pole over to the side for me please?

We know for a fact they came from

Bimini to our aircraft telling us,

and the first question we asked,

where you coming from. Just fishing.

Then finally they came from Bimini.

They were very reluctant.

Agent Alex makes sure

that the men are unarmed.

Do me a favor. Can you guys

lift up your shirts real quick?

They decide to board the vessel,

but act with extreme caution.

Obviously guys, we'll be coming

over to talk to you, okay?

We got it, sir, just stand by.

What's your guys's nationality?

Where you guys from?

How about you, sir?

Okay. You have your IDs on you? Where

are the IDs? Everything's inside?

Okay. I'll go with you. And let me

see your IDs, okay?

Alex escorts one of the men below

deck to retrieve their IDs,

while Rob questions the others.

What do you guys do for work?

- Charter. I own the company.

- Charter company. Okay.

- It's your boat?

- Yes.

When did you guys come into the country?

I came about 25 years ago.

- How about you sir?

- Three years ago.

- Three years ago? You sir?

- Like, two years ago.

What is your status now?

You applied for asylum?

- Yes.

- Asylum? Okay.

Despite all four men claiming

that they are here legally,

intel has just come in

that tells a different story.

For sure right now, they said two

are undocumented

and not supposed to be

in the United States.

Go ahead and stand up for me.

Turn around.

ID checks reveal that two of the men

have U.S. residency,

the other two, who were hiding below deck,

appear to have no legal right

to be in the U.S.

Go ahead and have a seat for me.

All four men are secured until agents

determine if they are lying.

If this's a smuggling venture, they'd

be looking at five years in jail.

The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal

in New York City.

NEW YORK

BROOKLYN

Welcomes 250,000 passengers a year.

Today, travelers are disembarking

from a ship returning

from Nova Scotia in Canada.

Waiting for them is U.S. Customs.

Morning. Straight ahead,

to the right, please.

Nice looking bag, I like it.

Officer Munir is on the lookout

for any passengers

with something to hide.

You guys have any purchases that you

have while you were on the cruise?

- No cigarettes, alcohol, jewelery?

- No.

When entering the U.S., duty must be

paid by passengers

if they are bringing in

more than 200 cigarettes.

Normally, most people know they have

to pay duty, they won't declare it,

so they don't have to pay duty.

It's just a cat and mouse game.

The U.S. government collects 100

billion annually in custom's duty.

How are you doing?

Just come over here real quick.

Are you guys in a group together?

Okay. You guys have any purchases

that you made on the ship?

Officer Munir has selected this group

of travelers for inspection.

- Are you guys all family or no?

- No, we are friends.

Friends. Okay. If you guys can just

come on over here, follow me.

Hello. Come over here. Come on.

He decides to take the two couples

to an inspection room

to go through their luggage.

Can you ask them if they have

any cigarette purchases, or alcohol.

No, no, nothing.

None of the group admit to having

bought anything on board the ship.

Tell them if they can put their bags here,

I'll take a look inside the bags.

Tell them to take off the backpacks

and stuff too.

All the bags, they can put

all of them here for us.

On the cruise ship,

all passengers are told they can

bring one carton of cigarettes each

into the U.S., duty-free.

Anything above that is subject

to duty, and a potential fine.

Officer Munir looks through one

of the women's suitcases,

and immediately finds

what he's looking for.

They bought the cigarettes on the boat?

- Yes.

- Let them know that

when they come off the boat,

if they're United States citizens

and they're coming back,

they're allowed one each.

What they're allowed. Anything extra,

they'll have to pay us duty for it.

Normally it's 10 dollars a carton,

it'll be 30 for this.

If I find more then I'll let you

know, okay.

One of the couples has been caught

with five cartons of cigarettes.

Three more than permitted.

- You need to get some cash ready.

- We need to pay 30 dollars duty? Why?

Is she upset about

paying for the cigarettes?

Despite the relatively small amount

of duty to be paid,

this passenger is not happy.

Our trip has been ruined.

This is ridiculous, I can't believe

they are doing this.

The woman is refusing to pay.

- You're not happy now?

- Happy, happy, no happy.

It's not money for me though, it's

for the government. Don't you worry.

She could be facing a fine of up to

double the value of the goods.

Not happy, happy. No happy.

Eight a.m. on the east coast

of Puerto Rico

the morning shift is just beginning.

Agents are about to resume the hunt

for a suspected drug smuggling boat

they were tracking last night

in bad weather.

If we go there and find the boat,

I'll talk to my boss and

see what he wants to do with it.

They're returning to Vieques, a small

island off the coast of Puerto Rico

favored by drug traffickers,

because of its location.

But this mission is not without risks.

The area is way out there.

It's far from any other means of backup

and they do have some lookouts

watching the boats.

This lookout, they are most

of the time armed.

[FOREIGN DIALOGUE]

As they approach the last known

coordinates of the boat

they were tracking last night.

Over there! Watch him.

The spot a suspect vessel.

Agents are on high alert.

Customs. Where are you coming from?

They suspect this man is a lookout,

because the only people

who are usually in this area

are connected to traffickers.

- Have you got any g*ns on you?

- No.

Get your license and boat registration.

We are just going to do a document check

to see what can get from him.

Although they suspect he is involved

in a g*ng,

the man has no criminal record.

Go ahead!

But they're left with no other choice

but to let him continue on his way.

They already know that we're here.

So you know, right?

Assuming the g*ng has now been

alerted to their presence,

they proceed to the last known

location of the suspected drug boat

and scan the shoreline.

- See something shiny there?

- Yes.

It's not long before they spot something.

- Is that a boat?

- A boat, what is it?

That's a yola boat. That's the same

type of boat that smugglers use.

- Damn, that's got some engines.

- They're 225s.

They immediately notice the powerful

outboard engines,

typical of drug boats

trying to evade authorities.

That's the one from last night.

They believe they've found the boat

they were tracking last night.

There is no way you can park

your boat here.

You leave it there,

[UNSURE OF WORD] that's it.

They need to get ashore quickly.

We have to see who owns that yola.

But getting close is impossible,

because it's too shallow.

There's a rock, so take it easy.

- It gets deeper again over there.

- No, I'm not going any further in.

They're using a boat hook to judge

the depth of the water.

It is really shallow, I don't want

to get stuck in here,

because the tide is still going down.

When it touches, I'm only going

to stay there.

I'm not going forward.

We've touched, but I'd get

in the water all the way up to here.

After determining the boat

can't travel any closer,

they're left with no choice.

If you're jumping in now's the time.

Yes, we will jump from the back.

Agents Maura and Cano prepare

to enter the water.

We have to be careful here.

It's likely the smugglers are armed

and still in the area,

possibly watching from the mangroves.

The agents are extremely vulnerable

in this environment.

- They just got to the boat?

- Yes. That's right.

There's no sign of the g*ng, but

the boat looks recently abandoned.

Looks left recently because

it's very clean.

If there are a few days or a few

weeks, you are going to see,

but it's very clean.

We'll get intelligence.

Right now what we have is this boat

is abandoned.

There is no report of a stolen boat.

Agents are left to investigate the scene

and try to identify the owner of the boat.

They will check if it has

any registration number.

Agents find and photograph

the registration number on the boat.

This is the crucial information

they were looking for.

The more picture and intelligence

we get from these guys, it's better.

The g*ng must have cleared the boat

of contraband last night.

Agents widen the earch to look

for more evidence.

Despite the thick natural cover,

they find proof of planning for

future smuggling ventures.

They have the gas tank over there.

Hidden in the mangroves

are full cans of gas,

leading agents to believe they were

using this area as a staging post

to re-fuel for further drug runs.

Get pictures of everything and be done.

Since no drugs or weapons were found,

they must leave the boat here.

They keep playing the game.

All the evidence collected today

will be used to build a case

against the owner.

All on board, pull up the ladder.

The net is tightening. Next time,

they hope to catch them red-handed.

At New York's Brooklyn Cruise Terminal,

Officer Munir has caught a couple

of travelers smuggling cigarettes.

They're allowed one each, but

anything after that has duty on it.

Happy, happy. No happy.

The female traveler is refusing to pay

the 30 dollars duty

owed on the cigarettes.

They can start packing that bag up.

I'll look at this.

So far, the only thing I saw is duty

is on the three cartons so far, okay?

No happy. Before I was very

very happy, very happy.

Now I'm no happy, no happy.

If she continues to object and

refuses to pay the duty,

she could face criminal penalties.

If she's not going to be compliant,

it'll become bad for her.

If the traveler stands her ground

and refuses to comply with U.S. law,

then she's risking a fine of twice

the value of the goods

and up to three years in jail.

You can just have a seat over there.

Go sit down. Sit down.

Just tell her it'll be 30 dollars.

Not money that comes to us,

it's something they'd pay.

It's a law. If we don't enforce

the law, why are we here?

I know and understand that people,

they get cheap prices,

they don't want to pay,

it doesn't work like that.

It's customs duty and you have

to pay. That's just the way it works.

If you keep behaving like this, you

won't be able to get out of here.

Can I pay cash?

- Please don't behave like this.

- I'm unhappy now.

The woman realizes she has no choice

but to calm down and pay the duty.

- No happy, no happy.

- That's okay.

We go outside, you'll be able to

smoke, it'll make you happy again.

Although the woman has paid the duty

on the excess cartons of cigarettes,

she's still paying less than

it would have cost her in the U.S.

Stop chatting with him.

I am still really upset.

The four tourists have cleared

customs and are on their way.

Thank you for helping out. I'll walk

you guys out, alright? Thank you.

Just let her smoke when she gets out,

she'll be okay out there. Right.

I told her after you pay it,

you're still saving a lot of money

as to buying it on the streets.

Just remember the good time

you had on the cruise.

This seconds shouldn't ruin your day.

Ten miles off the coast

of Fort Lauderdale.

You guys took a chance leaving the country

without having immigration status,

leaving and then coming back in. Why?

Two undocumented migrants have been

caught on board a boat

coming into the U.S.

You said you left this morning.

With these two?

They're claiming that they live in Miami,

but the agents believe they're

being smuggled in.

If that's what's going on, the owners

of the boat face serious charges.

But you come into the country illegally,

then you go back into the Bahamas,

to come here by boat.

The captain is claiming he's taking

them on a day trip fishing charter,

and that he had no idea they were

undocumented migrants.

My question is why?

We just went fishing

and we were coming back.

I don't know, like I'm really

so shocked right now.

Rob suspects he's being lied to

and the captain is knowingly

smuggling the men into the U.S.

- Whose bag is this one?

- His.

I'll look through your bag, sir.

Is there anything in here I should

be concerned about? Nothing.

He suspects the two undocumented

migrants were picked up

while the boat was in the Bahamas,

and this is a planned smuggling operation.

- What is this?

- What?

What is this? Who's [BLEEP]?

And [BLEEP]?

Why do you have a travel itinerary

for May 12th, 2024? What is this?

A bag search reveals the two men

who claim to have been living

in the U.S. for several years,

in fact, arrived into the Bahamas

by plane two days ago.

First you live and you work here.

But you have plane tickets from

[BLEEP] to the Bahamas.

Why?

This information is evidence against

the captain and his first mate.

- This is not looking good.

- Why's that?

I have paperwork for flight information.

- We didn't see their papers.

- No.

I can play this game like this

all day long.

You are trying to say to us we are

ill*gal people here and we are not.

- These two are.

- But we didn't know that!

Despite their continued denials,

the agents are not convinced.

Ten-four. Bye.

Some additional information has come

back about the captain of the boat.

One of the guys has a history of

organizing migrant smuggling.

That confirms their suspicions.

As soon as I saw those two guys come

out from down below in a 24,

maybe 25 ft. vessel,

when it's 90 degrees,

there's no AC on that boat,

I much knew, based on my knowledge,

experience, it's a smuggling load.

- We are not bad people.

- Understood.

We're not for the weapons, we're not

for the smuggling of the drugs

and for the people.

The captain and his first mate could

be looking at five years in jail

if convicted of conspiring to

smuggle migrants into the U.S.

The Florida Keys, a hot spot for tourists,

but also a smuggler's paradise,

given it's remote location.

FLORIDA

KEY WES

Two weeks ago,

authorities investigated a suspected

smuggling boat,

but when no drugs were found on board,

it led agents to believe they were

dumped at sea.

In the weeks following narcotics

packages have continued to wash up.

Border Patrol agents are roaming

the shorelines warning the public.

- How are you?

- Good. How are you?

We've been getting a lot of,

what's called wash ups.

Packages washing ashore. A lot of

it's any sort of narcotics.

We're bringing attention to the public,

if they see anything, make sure

to call the local authorities.

- Pass the word.

- Yes, absolutely. Thank you.

They're spreading the word at beaches

and marinas

up and down the length of the keys.

Just bringing attention to folks,

if they find anything,

just to call it in and try to avoid

any touch with your hands,

don't know what residue is on there-

could be something as marijuana,

God knows what else it'd be.

If you see any wash ups, call us,

we'll get it off your hands for you.

In the past, agents have found wash

ups that contain Fentanyl,

a powerful synthetic opioid

that could be fatal if ingested.

Over the past few weeks, there's been

at least marijuana, cocaine.

Oone or two per week,

it's been a pretty steady flow,

ranging anywhere from one brick of it

to 50 plus bricks of it.

Due to the vast size of their area,

the patrol agents'd engage with the

community to be their eyes and ears.

We've been having a lot of wash ups,

narcotics going on,

we're coming around,

checking out the area.

- The cocaine in the [BLEEP].

- We got a lot of that going on.

See anything, call the station.

- We appreciate law enforcement.

- Thank you, have a good day.

We do have a drug problem in America,

any bit we can get off the streets,

avoiding that danger that comes

with those drugs,

it's not just the drugs themselves,

but also the drug market.

With multiple packages floating

around offshore,

it's only a matter of time

before more wash up.

Members of the public are a help to us.

Help us do our job, we appreciate

when they communicate to us.

Helps prevent getting that stuff

in the wrong hands.

Their hard work of warning the public

about the dangers of wash ups

is already paying off.

I heard a call over the radio

that there's a suspicious package.

My guess is it's probably another

wash-up that just occurred.

150 miles to the north, off the coast

of Fort Lauderdale.

Agents have detained two undocumented

migrants

and arrested two U.S. citizens

who are attempting to smuggle them

into the country.

The way I'm getting it to turn's when

I slow it down and coast to port.

When I give it gas, it goes to starboard.

Agents are now in control

of the smuggler's vessel,

but one of the engines is out.

A lot of times these boats are not

in the best of working shape,

They're en route to meet up

with the coastguard,

to offload the migrants and smugglers.

I'm doing not even 10 knots, and we

still have about 9 miles to go.

To make matters worse.

You okay? Talk to me, bro,

talk to me. Are you alright?

The first mate, who is a U.S. citizen

and is currently detained,

is diabetic and his blood sugar

is falling dangerously low.

- You okay?

- Talk to me, bro.

He needs water.

This guy needs water.

- Sir, can you help him please?

- Yes, we are doing that.

We're working on it,

nothing you say or do,

is going to expedite anything

that's happening with him.

At this speed, the journey to meet up

with the coastguard could take hours.

Time that the sick man does not have.

- Does he have his medication?

- No, he does not.

I don't want to [BLEEP] with this.

The decision is made to call for help.

We have a one male subject

falling out, slumping over,

needs medical attention.

With the diabetic man's condition

deteriorating quickly.

What do you need? Just tell me.

Talk to me. Are you alright?

Two more customs boats from Miami

answer their distress call.

Feel that cold water going down

or no? Good.

- I got two EMTs with me.

- Alright, go alongside.

The diabetic man's blood sugar is

dangerously low.

We're almost there. It's okay.

Almost there. We're getting closer.

The additional boats have trained

paramedics on board

to administer care to the sick man.

They have two EMTs on that boat.

It made more sense to get advanced

life-saving treatment to him.

This one right here. He's rolling

out. Head's bobbing. He's lethargic.

Plan to transfer to man onto one

of the boats with the EMTs.

We'll bring you over.

There's an EMT here.

They're concerned he could go

into diabetic shock.

You ready? Let's get to onto

the boat. Ready? Let's do it, man.

Give me five minutes of strength.

Not even. Five minutes of strength.

You see that big guy over there?

That's who you'll go to, okay?

Every second counts.

Good.

- Ready? Got him?

- Thank you sir.

Now under medical supervision,

the customs boat will be able to get

the man to dry land in a few minutes.

You'll be okay.

Everything will be okay.

He'll receive the care he needs,

then be transferred to a detention

centre, where he will be charged.

They'll arrest him,

so make sure somebody goes.

He'll be arrested at the hospital.

Alright, cool. Alright, bye.

Just because he is sick doesn't mean

he is out of trouble.

Suspected smuggler we had,

we'd make sure we send one of

our agents to escort to the hospital

so he doesn't try to run off.

Agents continue towards their

rendezvous with the coastguard boat

which is making its way from Miami.

Sit over there. I'll grab some

water for him.

Thirty minutes later they arrive.

I think they'll make their approach

over here and they'll come alongside,

disembark from this vessel,

go onto their vessel.

- I have no steering, okay.

- Yes, maintain your course.

Ready? Will go to him. Three points.

One, two, there you go. Three.

The three men remaining,

one suspected smuggler

and two undocumented migrants, are

placed into the coastguard's custody.

Watch your step. Grab their hand.

That's one, two, there you go.

The two undocumented men will have

their biometric data taken,

before being interviewed

by Homeland Security Investigations.

- All set?

- We're all set.

The suspected smugglers could both

be looking at jail time

for their part in this operation.

Dan and his team how have to get

the stricken vessel back to the dock.

We'll tow the boat back into the office.

Make sure you go underneath that rail.

We'll inventory the vessel,

seize the vessel

and we'll finish up our paperwork.

That's about it.

Alright, go tight.

Alright, it's tight.

Back in the Florida Keys

Agent Nick is en route to a private

residence in the southern Keys,

after a concerned citizen found

a suspicious package

that had washed up on their property.

We'll just see what they've got going on.

The homeowner called the authorities

and local P.D. is on the scene.

I'll go show you where it's at.

We have another package washed

ashore over here.

Most likely narcotics, as we've been

seeing in these past week.

We'll go check it out and see what it is.

Alright. Just watch your step.

Nick is on a private beach

and is directed toward the package

by the police officer.

It's right there.

Just in how it's packaged itself,

it doesn't feel like any cocaine.

We'll take a closer look at it,

but I have really no indicators

right now of what it could be.

We'll take possession of this and

bring it back and see what we got.

Over the past weeks the surging tides

have brought in bundles of narcotics

that were likely dumped overboard

from a drug boat.

Nick believes this one package

could be from the same boat,

and is just the tip of the iceberg.

I'm losing track of how many wash ups

we're getting,

but I think for just this week alone

that's number four,

and it's either five or six

in the past two weeks.

We're seeing an increase, more than

we've been seeing in the past months.

Before Nick's gets the package back

to the station and test it.

- Okay, ten-four, I'll see you there.

- Alright, see you in a bit.

Yet another call comes in.

We just received a call

from Monroe County,

one of the deputies, they're asking

for border patrol assistance.

With all these wash ups happening,

it'd be another wash-up.

We're headed that way right now and

we'll go see what the call is about.

FOR LAUDERDALE-FLORIDA

In Fort Lauderdale, fresh from

busting a people-smuggling operation,

Dan and his team are about to finish

their shift.

All day Rob has been hiding his black eye

that he picked up during

his Brazilian jiujitsu training.

I'll hide my shiner.

A defensive combat technique

he's been practicing for years.

It's unusual that I get a black eye

like that.

It's the first time in like ten years.

That's an interesting boat

coming from Brazil.

Just before they return to dock, they

spot a TOI, or target of interest.

You want to go alongside,

get a little face-to-face contact

there, see what's up.

The Brazil flagged yacht is being

towed by two tug boats into port,

which has drawn officers' attention.

We've had traffic in the past getting

towed in by a sea tow,

that were loaded, and they'll carry

a few kilos of cocaine.

We want to do a quick document check

and a customs border search on it.

- Where are you guys coming from?

- We are coming from the Bahamas.

Bahamas. How many people

on board on the vessel?

- Two?

- Just two? What is your nationality?

- Where's your citizenship from?

- The boat is Brazilian and we are.

- Any weapons or drugs on board?

- No.

We are going to jump on board.

Agents Rob and Alex board the vessel

to check over the boat and confirm

their paperwork is in order.

Two males on board coming from

a foreign country,

this is one of the prime areas

to smuggle drugs and humans,

it's our job to get boots on deck

and check it out.

Good morning.

- Good morning, everything good?

- All good, thanks to God.

- You speak Portuguese?

- I speak Portuguese well.

We brought the boat here to fix

the boat and everything.

The boat has been sailed from the Bahamas

and has come to Fort Lauderdale

for repair.

- Do you have your documentation?

- What do you need?

The title of the vessel, if you have

it or the registration of the vessel.

Title of the vessel, Brazil.

The man retrieves his documents.

Go ahead and take a picture of it

and we'll run it.

Now he'll go and clear the vessel.

- Any weapons?

- No.

While Alex searches below deck.

Look at his shirt, coffee and

Jiujitsu makes me happy.

Rob realizes one of the men is also

trained in martial arts,

when reading on his t-shirt 'Coffee

and jiujitsu make me happy'.

What about that black eye?

From jiujitsu?

- It's from jiujitsu, that's right.

- I'm a black belt.

I'm almost there! I'm a purple belt.

I'm close, almost there.

I had a school in Brazil for 20 years.

Despite their friendly chat, if

something is found during the search,

Rob could be in great danger knowing

the man's superior fighting skills.

- Your black belt, which degree?

- Third degree.

You're up there, man.

Thankfully, background checks, the

search of the boat, come back clean.

I got the information back on both

the individuals on board,

both of their visas are valid.

I think they're wrapping up.

It looks like Alex already finished

his search.

- Everything up to date?

- Alright, bye Fabricio.

Thank you, have a nice day.

Guy's a third degree black belt.

Let me guess, you talked to him

about jiujitsu. He had the shirt.

His shirt said, 'Jiujitsu and coffee

make me happy, '

and I took off my sunglasses,

he noticed my dotted eye.

The first thing he said is,

"Jiujitsu." I said, "Yes sir."

Knowing that he's a third degree

black belt,

it'd be a hard boarding

if he wanted to fight us.

For me, the threat level goes up

knowing that.

I felt comfortable at the end of

the boarding, gave each other the nod

and we were good to go. We were

satisfied with the inspection.

With the boarding safely completed,

Dan and his team wrap up their shift.

In the Florida Keys

after finding a package of narcotics

that had washed-up on a beach,

Nick's now on his way to meet an

undercover cop to retrieve another.

This will be about 30 miles, so from

the first package to the second.

Within pretty close proximity

to each other.

Border Patrol is responsible

for policing any international border

in the U.S., including the beaches.

Because these drugs are washing up

on the beach

and coming from international waters,

they fall under federal jurisdiction.

Here we are.

Agent Nick will meet a local police

officer who will hand off the drugs.

- Where'd you find this?

- It was one of the owner's property.

They have a beach front behind the house

so a concerned citizen just called

as soon as they saw the package.

The owner, he has got pictures

of where it washed up.

We'll get that and

I will transfer you the files.

Awesome. Appreciate it. Thank you.

He immediately notices the likeness

to the first package.

It's very similar. Just even

the texture, wrapping.

From what I could see on the inside,

looking like it'll be marijuana,

and we'll test it just to be sure.

He believes these two wash ups

could be linked.

Could have been multiple bundles

contained within that shipment

that got separated from each other,

we're seein' these washes to multiple

locations, similar size, shape.

From that one shipment, I'm thinking

it'll be multiple bundles

they were attempting to deliver.

Border Patrol seizes a huge variety

of narcotics in the Keys every year.

These packages could be anything.

There's been kind of a busy weeks.

At least two weeks.

- Four wash-up. Fourth this week.

- Busy for wash ups.

Nick's colleague, Rafa, assists him

in testing the bundles.

- You want to do this stuff, Rafa?

- Sure.

Rafa'll test it right now and

we'll see what it specifically is.

Rafa conducts the test, taking all

the necessary precautions.

I like to be careful in case of, you

never know, this could be Fentanyl.

That's a lot of wrapping right here.

And it doesn't have a label.

Usually at least cocaine bricks

are marked.

Doesn't look like cocaine.

We have a test kit right here,

take a measurable sample.

The test kit has three different

glass ampules,

with chemical and you break the vials

to expose them, and then you wait

for a chemical reaction.

Turning red.

High contents for THC.

The package is tested positive for THC,

the active chemical compound in marijuana.

This package has a high content of THC,

which is what's commonly used

in marijuana, or hash.

Nick tests the second package.

As we can see here, green leafy substance.

Consistent with the contents

of marijuana, as you can see.

This package is also positive for THC.

We're always thankful to the public

and help get whatever it is washing

up, off their hands.

Even this is marijuana,

could be something else that could be

even just to the touching it.

Could have some residue on it

that can be pretty harmful.

The combined weight of both packages

is 3.3 lb,

in 2023 alone, Border Patrol seized

26,000 lb of narcotics in Florida.

We thank the public for giving us a call

and having the authorities come

take it off their hands.

While they have two packages

in their possession,

agents believe there are many more

out there waiting to be found.

As of 2024, cannabis is legal

in 24 states.

A large market still remains

for lower quality Marijuana

imported from South America.

The undocumented migrants

are awaiting deportation.

The smugglers are prosecuted

and are facing 5 years in prison

if convicted.

The owner of the hidden boat was

found to have past drug convictions.

Investigations continue to locate him.

Agent Nick has been inundated with

calls from the public about wash ups.

Two more packages were found

that same week.