To Catch a Smuggler | |
---|---|
Genre | Documentary Reality |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 8 |
No. of episodes | 74 |
Production | |
Producer | Lucky8 |
Original release | |
Network | National Geographic |
Release | October 8, 2012 – present |
To Catch a Smuggler is a documentary television series that depicts the work of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) law enforcement officers at multiple United States airports. Violations include fraudulent visas, human trafficking, and transportation of contraband items. To Catch a Smuggler is featured on National Geographic. [1]
A typical episode presents several incidents of the following types:
The channel features several sister series under the same title, which focus on law enforcement activities at airports and facilities in other countries, including Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Italy, New Zealand, and the Dutch Caribbean.
The series has been produced by Lucky8 since 2020. National Geographic's site aligns seasons with Lucky8's production.
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 5 | October 8, 2012 | November 5, 2012 | |
2 | 8 | January 1, 2020 | February 19, 2020 | |
3 | 15 | January 20, 2021 | May 19, 2021 | |
4 | 12 | February 9, 2022 | April 27, 2022 | |
5 | 10 | September 14, 2022 | November 16, 2022 | |
6 | 8 | May 10, 2023 | June 28, 2023 | |
7 | 6 | July 26, 2023 | September 13, 2023 | |
8 | 8 | April 24, 2024 | June 13, 2024 | |
9 | 8 | September 2, 2024 | October 23, 2024 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "Courier to Kingpin" | October 8, 2012 |
2 | 2 | "Cavity Courier" | October 15, 2012 |
3 | 3 | "Hidden Heroin" | October 22, 2012 |
4 | 4 | "Coke in the Coat" | October 29, 2012 |
5 | 5 | "Search & Seize" | November 5, 2012 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|
6 | 1 | "Internal Investigation" | January 1, 2020 |
7 | 2 | "Club Drugs and Party People" | January 7, 2020 |
8 | 3 | "Suspicious Suitcase" | January 15, 2020 |
9 | 4 | "Cocaine Crackdown" | January 21, 2020 |
10 | 5 | "Smuggle Once, Smuggle Twice?" | January 29, 2020 |
11 | 6 | "Drugs, Guns and Money" | February 5, 2020 |
12 | 7 | "Cocaine Sausages" | February 12, 2020 |
13 | 8 | "Decoys, Diversions and Drug Busts" | February 19, 2020 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
14 | 1 | "Mama's Meth" | January 21, 2021 | |
CBP deals with an unruly passenger. | ||||
15 | 2 | "The Coke Inside" | January 28, 2021 | |
16 | 3 | "Party Drugs" | February 4, 2021 | |
17 | 4 | "Endangered and Smuggled" | February 11, 2021 | |
18 | 5 | "Hidden Compartments" | February 18, 2021 | |
19 | 6 | "Stash House Takedown" | February 25, 2021 | |
HSI disrupt a transnational meth ring and CBP seize a huge shipment of illegal shark fins. | ||||
20 | 7 | "Coke, Cakes and Cash" | March 3, 2021 | |
21 | 8 | "Dark Web and Liquid Drugs" | March 11, 2021 | |
22 | 9 | "Cocaine Shoes" | April 8, 2021 | |
Hidden among the millions who enter the U.S. through JFK, MIA and ATL is dangerous contraband. DHS will stop at nothing to catch these smugglers. | ||||
23 | 10 | "Lockdown Lockup" | April 15, 2021 | |
24 | 11 | "Fentanyl Within" | April 21, 2021 | |
25 | 12 | "Mobile Meth" | April 29, 2021 | |
26 | 13 | "Express Delivery Ecstasy" | May 6, 2021 | |
27 | 14 | "Mega Millions Meth Stash" | May 13, 2021 | |
While inspecting commercial cargo from Mexico, Laredo CBP discovers liquid meth concealed within paint buckets. In Atlanta, HSI conducts a controlled delivery of an air conditioner filled with 2 kgs of meth. | ||||
28 | 15 | "Meth Lab Takedown" | May 20, 2021 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date [2] |
---|---|---|---|
29 | 1 | "Smuggled and Muzzled" | February 9, 2022 |
30 | 2 | "Jungle Stash" | February 23, 2022 |
31 | 3 | "Bunked in a Trunk" | February 23, 2022 |
32 | 4 | "Smorgasbord of Smack" | March 2, 2022 |
33 | 5 | "Killer Ketamine" | March 9, 2022 |
34 | 6 | "Guns of New York" | March 16, 2022 |
35 | 7 | "Gas Tank Meth" | March 23, 2022 |
36 | 8 | "Powdered Rims" | March 30, 2022 |
37 | 9 | "Million Dollar Ride" | April 6, 2022 |
38 | 10 | "Dope on a Rope" | April 14, 2022 |
39 | 11 | "Six Million Dollar Seizure" | April 21, 2022 |
40 | 12 | "Drug Boat Bust" | April 27, 2022 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date [2] |
---|---|---|---|
41 | 1 | "Cocaine Snapper" | September 15, 2022 |
42 | 2 | "Talibani Treasure Trove" | September 22, 2022 |
43 | 3 | "Tunnel from Tijuana" | September 29, 2022 |
44 | 4 | "Dark Net Dragnet" | October 6, 2022 |
45 | 5 | "Blow Overboard" | October 12, 2022 |
46 | 6 | "Coke on the Water" | October 19, 2022 |
47 | 7 | "MDMA on the Move" | October 27, 2022 |
48 | 8 | "Meth in the City" | November 2, 2022 |
49 | 9 | "Guac and Coke" | November 9, 2022 |
50 | 10 | "It's Raining Meth" | November 16, 2022 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date [2] |
---|---|---|---|
51 | 1 | "Boatloads of Coke" | May 10, 2023 |
52 | 2 | "Hot Drugs" | May 17, 2023 |
53 | 3 | "Popped for Pills" | May 24, 2023 |
54 | 4 | "Bananas and Blow" | May 31, 2023 |
55 | 5 | "The Coke Eater" | June 7, 2023 |
56 | 6 | "Dope in the Hood" | June 14, 2023 |
57 | 7 | "Freeway Meth" | June 21, 2023 |
58 | 8 | "Ice Cold Cocaine" | June 28, 2023 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date [2] |
---|---|---|---|
59 | 1 | "Junk in the Trunk" | July 26, 2023 |
60 | 2 | "Asleep on Lots of Coke" | August 2, 2023 |
61 | 3 | "To the Grinder" | August 9, 2023 |
62 | 4 | "Money Dog" | August 16, 2023 |
63 | 5 | "Fentanyl Express" | August 23, 2023 |
64 | 6 | "Gold Diggers" | August 30, 2023 |
65 | 7 | "Meth Magnets and Dirty Money" | September 6, 2023 |
66 | 8 | "Cocaine Rides in the Crew Cab" | September 13, 2023 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
67 | 1 | "Cocaine Leaks and Ancient Greeks" | April 24, 2024 | |
H | ||||
68 | 2 | "Not My Meth" | May 1, 2024 | |
69 | 3 | "Pots of Coke" | May 8, 2024 | |
H | ||||
70 | 4 | "Coke and the Kids" | May 16, 2024 | |
71 | 5 | "New Drug on the Block" | May 23, 2024 | |
72 | 6 | "My Big Fat Weed Run" | May 30, 2024 | |
73 | 7 | "Coked-up Oatmeal" | June 6, 2024 | |
74 | 8 | "Flesh, Bones, Ketamine and Drones" | June 13, 2024 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
75 | 1 | "Unholy Guacamole" | September 2, 2024 | |
HSI tails a cargo truck to LA and uncovers cocaine hidden in frozen avocado pulp. CBP finds psychedelic mushrooms and disrupts a stolen car ring. | ||||
76 | 2 | "Weed In, Weed Out" | September 4, 2024 | |
Border Patrol scans the interstate for smugglers and stops a suspect who flees arrest. CBP seizes large amounts of inbound and outbound marijuana. | ||||
77 | 3 | "Blitzed at the Border" | September 11, 2024 | |
78 | 4 | "No Rest for the Wicked" | September 25, 2024 | |
79 | 5 | "Spiced and Loaded" | October 2, 2024 | |
80 | 6 | "Drugs, Bugs, and the Big Buy-Bust" | October 9, 2024 | |
81 | 7 | "Drugs, Bugs, and the Big Buy-Bust" | October 16, 2024 | |
82 | 8 | "Meth Inside the Machine" | October 23, 2024 |
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, social scientists define smuggling as the purposeful movement across a border in contravention to the relevant legal frameworks.
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs has been considered as the fiscal subject that charges customs duties and other taxes on import and export. In recent decades, the views on the functions of customs have considerably expanded and now covers three basic issues: taxation, security, and trade facilitation.
People smuggling, under U.S. law, is "the facilitation, transportation, attempted transportation or illegal entry of a person or persons across an international border, in violation of one or more countries' laws, either clandestinely or through deception, such as the use of fraudulent documents".
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from cross-border crime and undocumented immigration that threaten national security and public safety.
The United States Customs Service was a federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted criminal investigations.
The Canada Border Services Agency is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border control, immigration enforcement, and customs services in Canada.
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilitating international trade, collecting import duties, as well as enforcing U.S. regulations, including trade, customs and immigration. CBP is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United States. It has a workforce of more than 45,600 federal agents and officers. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service was an Australian federal government agency responsible for managing the security and integrity of the Australian border and facilitating the movement of legitimate international travellers and goods, whilst protecting the safety, security and commercial interests of Australians. It was headquartered in Canberra and employed over 5,800 people around Australia and overseas.
A border guard of a country is a national security agency that ensures border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard and rescue service duties.
Air and Marine Operations (AMO) is a federal law enforcement component within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). AMO's mission is to protect the American people and nation's critical infrastructure through the coordinated use of air and marine assets to detect, interdict and prevent acts of terrorism and the unlawful movement of people, illegal drugs, and other contraband toward or across the borders of the United States. Air and Marine Operations Agents and Officers are endowed with the authority to enforce Title 8 and Title 19 (Customs) of the United States Code in addition to the general law enforcement powers bestowed upon federal law enforcement agents.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) is an Indian intelligence agency. It is India's apex anti-smuggling intelligence, investigations and operations agency.
The "Shadow Wolves" are a Native American tactical patrol unit assigned to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Sells, Arizona located on the Tohono Oʼodham Nation that runs along the Mexico–United States border.
The federal government of the United States empowers a wide range of federal law enforcement agencies to maintain law and public order related to matters affecting the country as a whole.
In the United States, border security includes the protection of ports, airports, and the country's 3,017-mile (4,855 km) land border with Canada and 1,933-mile (3,111 km) border with Mexico.
Smuggling tunnels are secret passages used for the smuggling of goods and people. The term is also used where the tunnels are built in response to a siege.
Border Wars is an American documentary television series on the National Geographic Channel. The program follows agents of the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and other divisions of the Department of Homeland Security as they investigate and apprehend illegal immigrants, drug smugglers, and other criminals violating immigration laws. The series follows Air Interdiction Agents and Marine Interdiction Agents who patrol along the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as southern Florida and Puerto Rico.
Border Force (BF) is a British law enforcement command within the Home Office, responsible for frontline border control operations at air, sea and rail ports in the United Kingdom. The force was part of the now defunct UK Border Agency from its establishment in 2008 until Home Secretary Theresa May demerged it in March 2012 after severe criticism of the senior management.
The Australian Border Force (ABF) is a federal law enforcement agency, part of the Department of Home Affairs, responsible for offshore and onshore border enforcement, investigations, compliance, detention operations and customs services in Australia. Through the ABF's Marine Unit, the ABF performs Coast Guard and marine law enforcement duties and is a component of the Maritime Border Command. The ABF is also part of the National Intelligence Community and is an active member of the World Customs Organization.
James A. "Jim" Dinkins is an American law enforcement officer and business executive who served as the first head of Homeland Security Investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from 2010 to 2014. He is a senior vice president and director of operations of Enterprise Financial Crimes Compliance for U.S. Bancorp.