- 5 hours ago
Borderforce USA Season 7 Episode 12
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Short filmTranscript
00:08The San Ysidro port of entry is the busiest land border crossing in the
00:13Western Hemisphere. Every day, 90,000 people pass through it.
00:20Are you bringing back anything from Mexico? No fruits or vegetables, alcohol, tobacco today?
00:25No, not today? All right. Officers have the authority to question and stop any traveler.
00:32Do you mind opening the trunk?
00:39Being here at the border, it's not like civilian police department where you're going to need
00:43a little bit more to go inside the vehicle. We have border search authority.
00:47This afternoon, a woman and her friend returning from Mexico have been selected for a routine check.
01:05It's not long before the canine leads Officer Bumpus to an area under the hood.
01:17So my dog was alerting under the vehicle, like towards the front end of the vehicle.
01:21So we're checking it out right now.
01:24And that's exactly where he was going.
01:28And this feels solid, too.
01:32The front end behind the tire.
01:35Just crawl all the way from the back to the front end.
01:40But I can't find anything.
01:51A secret compartment is stuffed full of what looks like prescription medication.
02:09We have to do what we have to do.
02:25We have to do what we have to do.
02:34On any given day, There are over two million outstanding arrest warrants for wanted criminals in the U.S.
02:41Do you need one ID or two IDs?
02:43No, no, no, I don't need the military.
02:44That's the military.
02:45Sir, look at the camera, please.
02:46Everyone returning from Mexico
02:48But thank you for your service, all right?
02:50is subject to a background check.
02:54This afternoon, a woman coming home after a day trip to Progreso has been stopped.
03:04So we had a pedestrian traveling from Progreso, Mexico, through pedestrian.
03:09And the subject came out as a positive for a warrant.
03:15Right now, there's no information about what crime the woman is wanted for.
03:20She confirmed the address.
03:25In her case, I asked her if she was ever been detained, had trouble with the law enforcement at any
03:31time.
03:32She said no.
03:33She said she also has family members that work for the PD in Fort Worth, Texas.
03:39So that's irrelevant for us because a human being is a human being.
03:42Officer Maureen runs the woman's fingerprints.
03:45There we go. Go like this.
03:47But keep this right here.
03:49To check that her ID matches the warrant.
03:56Thank you, ma'am.
04:06Information soon comes through from the issuing authority, which is in another county 500 miles away.
04:13It did confirm for an outstanding warrant out of Gainesville, Texas, for larceny, which was inputted back in November of
04:24last year.
04:25Okay, ma'am.
04:26You can step out.
04:27You can put your shoes on right here, and then you can give your items to your husband right now.
04:34While they wait to find out whether Gainesville PD wants to arrest her, Officer Maureen allows the woman to speak
04:41with her husband.
04:44Sir, your wife? You may speak to her if you need to. She wanted to give you the belongings.
04:49I don't know.
04:50This is probably Gainesville.
04:52There's nothing in Gainesville. I don't understand.
04:54I don't either. I don't know what it is.
04:56So did the supervisor speak to you already?
04:58He just gave me blanket, nothing specific. I don't know what's going on.
05:01So here's the thing, okay? She came out as a positive for a warrant, an outstanding warrant out of Gainesville,
05:07Texas.
05:07For what?
05:08For larceny.
05:10For that?
05:13Okay.
05:14Okay.
05:16She says she's never...
05:17There's nothing for... she doesn't have anything.
05:19So...
05:19We live full work. We have no business in Gainesville. We don't do anything against...
05:23Like I'm saying, you have a job. Do you work?
05:25Yes.
05:26Okay, so you do your job. We're just doing our job. That's it. We're going fast.
05:29I understand completely.
05:31Right.
05:32Our whole family's police officers, Fort Worth Police Department...
05:34Right. She informed me about that.
05:35...Para County Commissioner, so I mean, this is not a typical MO for someone that's going to...
05:40We've seen... we've seen everything in occupation title that's irrelevant to who gets arrested and who doesn't.
05:46I understand.
05:46But I understand where you're coming from. I'm just letting you know this is the opportunity to speak to her
05:50right now.
06:00I was reading her body language and he was like, kind of like, what? And she was like, the check.
06:24At the San Ysidro crossing...
06:26It's the front end behind the tire.
06:29Oh, there it is. Yep. Hook him up.
06:33A woman and her friend returning to the U.S. have been detained.
06:38After a search of their vehicle, uncovered medication hidden in the dashboard.
06:45There should be an airbag in here. So an officer pulled this up and there's a bunch of medicine back
06:54in here.
06:54The contraband consists of packets of diet pills and bottles of medicated shampoo.
07:00Then there's medicine also on the computer.
07:05The two women entered the border in the fast lane, used only for pre-vetted drivers holding a sentry pass.
07:13They are global and sentry members also, so they rarely get inspected, so they thought they would try it.
07:24The amount smuggled in is assigned to Supervisor Walker. It's not for personal use.
07:32What they do is they try and take this medication, probably to a swap meet,
07:38and try to resell it for probably a little bit more than what they bought it for in Mexico.
07:45And that's obviously not authorized. That's why they're hiding it.
07:50So we'll go ahead and seize the medicine.
07:54The car is taken to a secure area where Officer Roque will carry out a thorough search.
08:01Dashboard's a pretty common concealing method.
08:03People will just create these little areas to hide stuff so they can smuggle things through.
08:07This right here is, like, people used for weight loss. It's a Schedule IV controlled substance.
08:12I think these people use it for, like, weight loss and different things, or at least I hope it's just
08:16for that.
08:16This weight loss drug is popular in Mexico.
08:20But not approved for use in the U.S., creating a black market for smuggled pills.
08:26I don't know how much more is in here, so I'll have to check in the dashboard and ever
08:29and see if there's anything else hidden anywhere else.
08:34It's shampoo. I guess it's some sort of medical shampoo. I have no idea.
08:40I don't know if it's in under here. Actually, oh, it is.
08:42Yeah, so it's all in here, too. So I'll have to open the U.S. up.
09:10Every day, around 10,000 people cross the Camino Real Bridge.
09:18Among the travelers are paqueteros, unofficial couriers carrying goods across the southern border.
09:26You can go down the road. What are you doing, Chef? What are you doing?
09:29There's nothing. It's empty.
09:31Although lucrative work, it comes with a risk because the drivers are rarely aware of what they're bringing in.
09:42Yeah, I want to scan all of it.
09:44Today, a courier entering into Mexico with a trailer has been sent to secondary inspection.
09:53This driver was coming from Houston, headed to Guanajuato, Mexico.
09:58We selected him because he had a lot of merchandise that he's taking to Mexico for other people.
10:05The Mexican drug cartels are known to hide cash and guns in paqueteros cargo.
10:14Suspicious that the trailer may contain contraband,
10:18officers put the whole shipment through an x-ray machine.
10:27Nothing yet.
10:37But it's not long before the x-ray reveals a suspicious outline.
10:43And it looks like we have one firearm and some ammunition in this box.
11:06It looks like we have the firearm here and ammunition in this boot.
11:11The man is immediately detained.
11:16While Officer Ruiz examines the concealment method.
11:20Could be for the x-ray.
11:22It could be for the canine.
11:24Try to hide the smell or the odor of the firearm.
11:27That way our canine doesn't hit on it.
11:29But in this case, we were able to locate it using the x-ray.
11:35There's a factory thing.
11:39Because Mexico has strict laws preventing the purchase of guns,
11:43every year around 150,000 firearms are smuggled into the country by criminal gangs.
11:50So the gentleman's claiming that he didn't know about the firearm.
11:54One, he can be facing charges.
11:56His vehicle can be seized.
11:58There's a lot of different scenarios.
11:59But right now we have to wait for HSI to see if they're going to want to do
12:02further investigation on this or take him from there.
12:06Smuggling a hidden weapon is a serious crime.
12:10Homeland Security Investigations will question the man further
12:13to decide whether to prosecute.
12:30Okay, now.
12:32You could step out.
12:33You could put your shoes on.
12:35In Progreso, a woman returning home from a day trip to Mexico
12:38has been detained because she has a warrant out for larceny.
12:43Whenever she had the opportunity to give her belongings to her husband,
12:47she was trying to whisper something to him.
12:50I was reading her body language and he was like, kind of like, what?
12:54And she was like, the check.
12:57Was that check that y'all were talking about in November?
12:59We had a contractor that worked for us.
13:02In, in 23?
13:04That was 23.
13:0522, 23.
13:07That's the only check.
13:08We had a contractor that worked for us.
13:11The couple paid a man to do some work on their property.
13:14They wrote a check, which bounced.
13:18That would be a simple thing.
13:19It wouldn't be charged larceny on that because it wasn't written to a,
13:22it wasn't written to a business or anything like that.
13:24It was to an individual.
13:25It was to the contractor.
13:31Okay, perfect.
13:32Have a good day.
13:34The Hidalgo Sheriff's Office confirms that they will be coming to arrest the woman,
13:40before extraditing her back to the county that issued the warrant.
13:44We only have so much information right now when Hidalgo County arrives.
13:48She has any further questions because they're actually the ones who are going to take over.
13:52Could ask, she could ask them.
13:55And then she'd have to go all the way back to Gainesville.
13:57Like I said, they're going to answer your, your questions.
14:08All right.
14:11We'll get to the bottom of it.
14:12I'll get to the bottom of it.
14:13And I said, obviously, follow me around.
14:17So, you know, make sure you're okay.
14:20Ma'am, do you give her the purse?
14:21And then, sir, do you want to give her a last hug before they pick her up, you know?
14:25No, but I mean, as a husband and wife, I'm pretty sure you want to give her a hug.
14:29Yeah.
14:30You know?
14:31We're human beings right there.
14:43All right.
14:44I love you.
14:47You there?
14:47I know.
14:48I know you'll come take that.
14:50Everybody's in it.
14:51All right.
14:52An officer from Hidalgo County arrives to make their arrest.
14:58Do you need a conversation?
14:59Yes, sir.
15:02Officer, why don't you give me instructions, okay?
15:05No, ma'am.
15:06Are you a ?
15:07Yes.
15:08I'm picking you up because you got a warrant out of Cook County.
15:12So, we'll take you to custody to our county jail and they'll pick you up from our county jail and
15:17take you back to Cook County.
15:18Okay?
15:19So, I'm going to put the cuts on you.
15:24Thank you, sir.
15:25Thank you very much.
15:26How's it going?
15:27According to her, she never had a criminal record, never been arrested, never had to do a pat-down before.
15:34But anyways, wish you're the best and remember, learn your lesson and stay out of trouble.
15:56In Eagle Pass, a courier has been detained after being caught smuggling a weapon into Mexico.
16:04So, the gentleman's claiming that he didn't know about the firearm.
16:08One, he can be facing charges.
16:10His vehicle can be seized.
16:12There's a lot of different scenarios, but right now we have to wait for HSI to see if they're going
16:16to want to do further investigation on this or take him from there.
16:20These are 40 and this firearm is 40 as well.
16:25So, yes, these rounds are for this pistol.
16:28They don't check the merchandise that they're taking into Mexico.
16:32So, it makes it easier for somebody to send something illegal like this.
16:36Only one pistol was found, but that alone can be sold for hundreds of dollars on the black market in
16:42Mexico.
16:44We were able to seize one firearm magazine and a total of 50 rounds, which is a good thing for
16:48us.
16:49Whatever reason they were using it for over there in Mexico, they were exporting it illegally.
16:55Since the courier has no prior history and claims no knowledge of the weapon, this time he won't face any
17:02charges.
17:03So, as of right now, HSI has deferred the prosecution.
17:07The firearm is going to stay here in our possession. It's going to be seized.
17:10And the rest of the items that the gentleman was carrying with him, he's going to be free to go
17:13with.
17:13But he's not completely in the clear.
17:16New laws created to crack down on cartel crime have recently been passed.
17:21The form this guy just signed.
17:22Essentially, the United States government has labeled the cartel a terrorist organization in this form.
17:28We have it in English and Spanish.
17:29It says, if you have any affiliation and we find out you do, the law is going to go after
17:34you in full extent.
17:36They read this. They sign it. We find out through our investigation that they have any affiliation to the cartel.
17:43They're going to jail.
17:43By signing the form, the driver is declaring his innocence.
17:48But if he's lying and later found to have cartel links, he could then be arrested.
17:54It wasn't a good thing that they were having this firearm hidden within these containers.
17:58And it was a good thing we were able to get it.
18:14In San Diego, two women have been detained after a search of their car revealed a hidden compartment stuffed full
18:22of prescription medication.
18:24I don't know if it's in under here. Actually, oh, it is. Yeah, so it's all the way in here,
18:27too.
18:29There's a lot more hidden than Officer Roque initially thought.
18:33So I'll have to open all this up.
18:43Just one.
18:57Yeah, so it's... How far does it go?
18:59Actually, it looks like it stops right here.
19:01So I saw it's about right in here.
19:03That way.
19:06I go the way down.
19:13I've never seen this before, so I'm not sure what kind of shampoo it is.
19:18So I'll have to look it up.
19:25This anti-dandruff shampoo isn't prohibited.
19:27But bringing in large commercial amounts without declaring it is against the law.
19:36It's a hole down here on this side.
19:39It is?
19:39Yeah, through here.
19:48I think that's all of it.
19:52For smuggling shampoo, as well as the diet pills, the driver of the vehicle is facing a significant penalty, typically
20:00three times the value of what's found.
20:05Every pill and bottle must be counted.
20:08All right, this might take a little while.
20:23So each one of these has 20.
20:24So 20 times 15 times all this is going to be a decent amount of money.
20:34All right, so that should be 20 right there.
20:40I highly doubt they need to lose as much weight.
20:43So they're going to probably sell to someone, some market somewhere or somewhere.
20:47A packet of diet pills bought in Mexico for $16 could sell for twice as much on the black market.
20:55But taking them comes with risks because the pills contain the appetite suppressant phentermine and long-term use can lead
21:03to drug dependency.
21:05People can abuse this substance.
21:07So people buying this off the street or some market somewhere or from someone, they can be abused and it
21:13can cause people issues.
21:14So people are taking too much of this medication, they can have a serious medical condition.
21:18In total, 11,400 pills are counted alongside 260 bottles of shampoo, adding up to a retail value of over
21:28$10,000.
21:31We're going to get her into our office here, issue her the penalty.
21:35So you can make two choices.
21:36You can either agree to pay the penalty or contest it.
21:41So, um, you've had a bunch of medication in your vehicle, okay?
21:45I noticed.
21:46So, um, since you can see all the medication that you didn't declare, we do have to issue a penalty
21:51of the vehicle, okay?
21:52This is your first offense doing this?
21:54So we're going to go ahead and mitigate it, okay?
21:56Since it's the woman's first time being caught, her fine is reduced to $2,500.
22:03I'll do the petition.
22:05You want to contest it?
22:06Yes.
22:06All right.
22:06Despite owning the vehicle, the woman denies all knowledge of the medication and says she will be appealing her charge.
22:14Is there a certain amount of time I need to wait?
22:16I would say do it in three days. The sooner the better.
22:18Okay.
22:19Okay.
22:19So that's your copy?
22:20Okay.
22:20And then I'll get your finger, okay?
22:21Okay.
22:23Outside, her friend is also facing punishment.
22:26The loss of her trusted traveler status.
22:30Since you're traveling with her and you're both smuggling medication across the border, um, your sentries are being lifted.
22:35Am I in chief?
22:36Yes.
22:37Since you're both crossed and they're...
22:38It wasn't my fault.
22:40Her vehicle had, um, a lot of concealed medication.
22:42So she was issued a penalty and all medication that was concealed within the vehicle was seized.
22:46I don't understand.
22:47Yes, sir.
22:47You don't understand that there was medication concealed within your dashboard.
22:50We're informing you right now that there was medication within the vehicle.
22:54Yes, and we're telling you right now that there's medication within the vehicle.
22:56You're good to go, okay?
22:57This woman has escaped a heavy fine, but both travelers have lost their sentry cards, adding hours to their future
23:05border crossings.
23:27The Camino Real Bridge links the city of Eagle Pass with Piedras Negras, Mexico.
23:40I'm just looking at the natural voice that these pickups have, but this one right now looks good.
23:46Officers stay vigilant for signs of anything unusual or suspicious.
23:52You have to process vehicles, you know, in a timely manner.
23:55But then also you have to, you know, realize which ones are kind of iffy or you don't like the
24:00story or something.
24:06So really the officers only have, you know, less than a minute, sometimes less than 30 seconds to process a
24:11vehicle, right?
24:12So that's one of the challenges that our officers face.
24:23Even at midnight, the cars are still streaming in.
24:26And the driver with a missing front license plate heading to Mexico has been flagged for further inspection.
24:34It didn't have a front plate, so that was my first issue with it.
24:39Once I stopped it, I saw it had multiple boxes.
24:42Boxes are typically what we call here encargos or they're taking parcels or packages on behalf of somebody else to
24:50Mexico.
24:56The man has also told Officer Figueroa that the pickup belongs to someone else.
25:32The man's claim to be driving his friend's truck across the border while he has dinner raises more questions for
25:40Officer Figueroa.
25:56The man's story isn't adding up.
25:59Very vague responses because obviously he doesn't know the answers to what I was trying to get from him.
26:06It didn't make sense why he needed to be crossing the vehicle on behalf of his friend.
26:11A discrepancy in the vehicle's registration papers is yet another red flag.
26:16So the paperwork says is the owner.
26:21He's telling me that his friend's name, which is the owner of the vehicle, is Alfonso.
26:25So that doesn't match.
26:28With growing doubts over who actually owns the vehicle and its cargo,
26:33officers begin to suspect the driver could be carrying out illicit activity for a cartel.
26:38Ten-four, ten-by.
26:41They will need to search the car for further clues.
26:50The Ambassador Bridge links Windsor, Canada with Detroit, Michigan.
26:58Every day, almost $320 million worth of goods from Canada crossing trucks bound for the U.S.
27:07How you doing, sir?
27:08Good afternoon.
27:12Officers are always on the lookout for anything illegal entering the country.
27:16I'm going to send you through x-ray, okay?
27:18So what you're going to do is, you're going to stay to your right, go around, and then you're going
27:21to see a sign for x-ray.
27:24Including agricultural items that could be carrying insects and pests harmful to U.S. crops.
27:32All right, just come right over here with me.
27:37Right over here, sir.
27:39I'm going to have you bring your truck.
27:40Okay.
27:41Pop your seal.
27:42Open your door.
27:42Okay.
27:43Back all the way to door number four.
27:44Door number four.
27:45Okay.
27:47Today, agriculture specialist Garza is carrying out a series of spot checks on inbound trucks.
27:54He's called in container full of flowers.
27:58Today, we're going to be looking at some plants, plant commodities.
28:02We're going to be looking for live mites, slugs, snails, plant diseases.
28:06These species could be harmful to America's agriculture.
28:09We're trying to do our best to safeguard that.
28:20Even though these flowers have come from a pest controlled greenhouse in Canada, there could still be bugs hidden within.
28:30Let's see if we can find anything here.
28:33Using his flashlight, Officer Garza begins the first step of his inspection.
28:39He focuses on a cross section of the shipment.
28:56I don't see anything so far.
28:58Any track marks, any bite marks, or anything just that stuns out out of the normal.
29:03It's not always guaranteed that it's going to be a pest free plant.
29:13So that's why it's always good just to check, do a visual inspection, a thorough visual inspection on these.
29:26So there's something right over here.
29:30It's a little bitty thing.
29:33If the insect Officer Garza has spotted turns out to be an invasive species, the entire shipment will be refused
29:41entry into the U.S., costing the shipper thousands of dollars.
29:59In Eagle Pass, a driver has been stopped when attempting to cross from the U.S. and New Mexico.
30:13He admits he doesn't own the car he's driving, but the name he's given as the owner doesn't correlate with
30:19the vehicle's registration.
30:21The name that the driver provided doesn't match the paperwork that he gave me on the title of the vehicle,
30:27nor the insurance.
30:28He claims he's transporting the truck in boxes for a friend, but officers suspect he's being used by a cartel.
30:36So that's why I still not satisfied with whatever is going with this vehicle right now.
30:43So we'll load everything, scan it through, do a physical inspection of the vehicle, make sure everything is good.
30:54Nine times out of ten, these people that are taking these items to Mexico, they don't inspect the stuff.
31:00And the people take advantage of that to try to hide contraband, weapons, ammo, money, things like that.
31:09He's responsible for everything that's in the vehicle. So if we get to find something, it's his fault.
31:16Large TV! Hey Figueroa!
31:20So far, no anomalies. This is the golden nugget.
31:30These compressors are famous for having stuff inside that's not supposed to be.
31:41But not this time. It's clean.
31:44The load is given the all clear.
31:47But drug cartels are known to hide contraband inside a vehicle's bodywork.
31:52The pickup is sent for an x-ray.
31:57V4, V4, are we up?
31:5910-4, stand by.
32:10Pickup.
32:112020.
32:122020?
32:13Let's see what's dark masses we see in the vehicle.
32:17In fact, a compartment or it must be by us.
32:20Nothing suspicious is spotted within the truck.
32:23But Officer Rodriguez sees something else unusual.
32:27Vehicle is concealed with a plastic film, which covers up your license tax.
32:32You won't be able to read it, so it's got a film on it.
32:42It's got to have a plastic film on the numbers. They're somewhere here.
32:46Once the vehicle went through, the license plate reader didn't pick up the license plate.
32:51When you see the picture of the license plate reader, it's all blacked out.
32:56The plate has been deliberately tampered with to stop the car from being tracked by vehicle recognition cameras.
33:03This concealment and the driver not knowing the car's real owner are all signs that the vehicle might be stolen.
33:20In Detroit, a shipment of flowers from Canada has been sent for inspection.
33:26To enter the U.S., all plants must be free of any harmful pests that can damage crops.
33:32So there's something right over here.
33:37It's a little bitty thing.
33:42Officer Garza thinks he may have spotted an insect in the plants, so he wants to carry out a more
33:48detailed inspection on some of the flowers.
33:51So we'll just get a sample of everything, mix it all in there.
33:57And this is just for micro-sized insects, organisms that we may find.
34:04If it's not admissible, then the truck gets rejected back to Canada.
34:08And it will be given an emergency action notice to be re-delivered and be fumigated for these bugs.
34:19So that's one pile right there.
34:23Even insects not seen by the naked eye can carry diseases.
34:29To catch these microscopic creatures, Officer Garza uses a special kit.
34:36This is what's known as burlesi funnels.
34:38They're just heat lamps.
34:41That releases all the moisture from the plants.
34:43So all the bugs, insects, anything like that will fall down this funnel.
34:48And we'll put a little tray full of alcohol, and they will all fall down there.
34:53And then from there we'll collect the samples that we find.
34:57So what we're going to do now is we're going to juice these containers up, filling it up with alcohol.
35:01So all the animal or any little insects that fall into here will stay in there.
35:07So all we're going to do here is just stuff our burlesi funnel.
35:13Just turn this on just like that and put it right over.
35:16And it will give these about 30, 40 minutes, just so it can dry up completely and let all that
35:22organisms fall through.
35:24As the plants dry out, Officer Garza inspects one last plant sample looking for bugs.
35:31What we could do here is just try to shake, see if anything comes out.
35:37In 2024, almost 80,000 citations were issued to commercial vehicles crossing with contaminated produce, preventing millions of dollars worth
35:48of damage to U.S. agriculture.
35:50A detrimental insect coming into the United States could be as harmful as any drug shipment found.
35:57So it's always good just to check.
36:00Like the slogan says, don't pack a pest.
36:04So far, nothing has been discovered.
36:09But if anything suspicious is found in the burlesi funnels, then all the flowers will be returned.
36:16See what we got?
36:19So these have been on for about 20, 30 minutes for now.
36:27There's that set.
36:29So yeah, there are some mites, but like I said, they're microscopic.
36:33So these are not actionable.
36:37The search has found only harmless mites.
36:41Just going to check this one right here.
36:45Some mites, all that little bunched up.
36:48Like I said, the mites that will be found here will be microscopic.
36:52So this shipment's good to go.
36:53Release them and we'll let them down the road.
37:01These plants are coming from a Canadian greenhouse.
37:04They did a good job cleaning and making sure that they're pesticide-free.
37:09The driver and his flowers are clear to continue on their journey.
37:14It'll make somebody's mom or dad happy with these flowers.
37:32In Eagle Pass, a driver crossing into Mexico with a suspicious truck has been stopped.
37:38Officers have discovered the license plate has been tampered with.
37:43Vehicle plate is concealed with a plastic film which covers up your license tax.
37:47You won't be able to read them, so it's got a film on it.
37:51Here in Eagle Pass, we have a lot of tendencies of vehicles going outbound that are stolen.
37:57These type of trucks, they're used a lot by the cartels.
38:00They use it for type of payments or for doing their crimes over there in Mexico.
38:08Concerned the vehicle might be stolen,
38:10officers decide to run a check on its serial number, known as the VIN.
38:17People will identify the VIN to make sure it matches the VIN on a windshield.
38:20Criminals sometimes fraudulently change the VIN marked on a vehicle's exterior to mask its theft.
38:26The machine that we have, that we connected through that port,
38:30and we can actually look for the original VIN number
38:34that's embedded within the program of the computer.
38:37If it doesn't match, then you probably have a stolen vehicle.
38:48This time, the vehicle identification number is a match,
38:51and the car hasn't been reported as stolen.
39:00With questions remaining about the car's ownership,
39:04officers ask the driver to call his friend.
39:13Alfonso?
39:15He admits he doesn't own the car either,
39:17and says he was paid to pick it up in Indiana and take it south.
39:22Yes, they paid me to bring it to Mexico.
39:27Officer Figueroa now suspects the man has been asked to drive over a newly purchased car
39:33that hasn't been declared to customs officials.
39:36Okay.
39:38Okay.
39:38Well, the owner of the car has to come to the police station,
39:42Digo Pass,
39:44with evidence that it's his car,
39:46to be able to take it from the in-pound lab.
39:54Because the caballero can't cross it because it's not his car.
40:07The person, he didn't give me a name.
40:08The person who had the vehicle over in upstate Indiana,
40:14told him to bring it down.
40:16The thing is, yes, you can export a vehicle to Mexico.
40:18There's no issues with it, but there's a process.
40:21And that process starts with us.
40:23As U.S. Customs and Border Protection,
40:25you have to bring it for exportation.
40:2772 hours prior of the vehicle exiting to a port of entry into another country.
40:33By not declaring the car,
40:34the owner was trying to avoid all the paperwork.
40:37But now, the vehicle and its contents are being impounded.
40:41The driver is free to go, on foot.
40:44He won't face any charges for helping out a friend.
40:48So right now, everything is going to Eagle Pass,
40:50P.D. in-pound lab,
40:51and tomorrow,
40:51the person who's the owner of everything
40:54can get in contact with the investigators in Eagle Pass P.D.
40:57so he can retrieve all his belongings.
41:00FREESTER Pcutta
41:02FTE
41:09Medica
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