Border Patrol Agents | Risk Takers | Episode 1 | FD Real Show

the u.s mexican border is the most heavily used corridor for human trafficking and drug smuggling in the united states the job of a border patrol agent is one of the most dangerous law enforcement jobs in the country moments of high tension can quickly escalate into sheer horror unpredictable captives can turn on the agents at any moment [Music] border patrol agents work in extreme conditions endangering their lives under a scorching sun in order to save people in distress hot zone operations consist of capturing dangerous drug smugglers every minute of every working day agents have to make critical life and death decisions that will determine the outcome of events [Music] [Music] the sonoran desert is one of the deadliest terrains on the planet with blistering temperatures of over 120 degrees fahrenheit this unsettling yet beautiful landscape walks a razor thin line between life and death this harsh environment preys on the weak the desperate family of an 80 year old american man have reported him missing to local authorities every passing minute without water reduces his chances of surviving when someone is missing in the hospital environment of the sonoran desert yuma's elite search and rescue unit borstar are called into action borstar are border patrol agents who specialize in tracking people down and are used to working against the clock as soon as the crew are safely buckled in the pilot starts the engine and the earth slowly begins to fall away within seconds the engines hit full power and the blackhawk helicopter begins to sweep through the desert like a typhoon ripping through the sky in order to quickly survey the vast landscapes of the sonoran desert the pilot has to fly the blackhawk helicopter at dangerously low altitudes at speeds of over 160 miles an hour due to the increase of traffic in the skies the pilot has to maintain a high level of awareness about his environment at all times maneuvering a two-ton blackhawk helicopter requires great skill and concentration one mistake one error of judgment could lead to a deadly crash when working in the blistering sun of the sonoran desert warstar agents have to be in top physical and mental condition in order to perform fearless rescues just got to be aware that your environment is not friendly you get in trouble out there you're going to become the next person to be rescued you got to you got to be a step above that say they you know somebody's got to make it five miles on foot we have to go not only five miles we have to go that five miles back we gotta be able to walk in and walk out so we gotta go twice as much as the next guy once the helicopter is in the vicinity of where the elderly man was last seen agents emblem and smith get in contact with ground agents who serve as their guides i'm gonna follow the line straight ahead border patrol agents are specialized in tracking the fresh shoe prints of distressed people from treads in the sand border patrol agents are able to determine the size of their group their age and even the direction they're headed within seconds of locating the elderly man the pilot skillfully maneuvers the blackhawk helicopter into a secured landing position agents emblem and smith quickly move on to the scene this is the moment when the adrenaline and years of training kick in sprinting over 200 yards in life-sapping temperatures of over 120 degrees fahrenheit is both physically and mentally exhausting one slip on the uneven terrain could result in a broken leg agent smith's lungs and heart are ruthlessly working overtime as he has the extra burden of carrying a hundred pound bag of medical supplies as soon as agent emblem arrives at the scene where the elderly man is lying he realizes that he has died through heat exposure and dehydration outcomes like this are a harsh reality of the life of a boar star agent unfortunately uh this stuff happens this is probably everybody on the search and rescue team's greatest fears getting here too late this is the part of the job that sucks tracking someone in the scorching sonoran desert often takes time and patience but borstar agents know all too well that every passing second counts there's been times where we've literally showed up and it's been you know a minute or two you know five minutes ten minutes to make the difference so yeah it's pretty common we're gonna be way too late to this guy this guy was obviously in trouble at this point uh he's got his pants down he's trying to cool himself off he took off his shoes at some point this is his last minutes right here uh if we follow his foot sign south before handing the scene over to medical investigators agent emblem tracks the elderly man's last steps in order to see if he can find any of his belongings that may be of value to his family it will also enable the agents to get a positive identification on the man one of his footprints here he's barefoot at this time he's actually in his socks took off his shoes moved around on the ground a little bit looking for shade not a whole lot to be found out here if you look around we'll continue to push them back south from here see he's staggering at this point his steps aren't real coordinated he might have been going for a morning walk got a got lost disoriented couldn't find his way back to his vehicle he might have bad vision might not have been able to see as far as his vehicle when he got away from it and uh it might have been nice and cool this morning in the 80s but once that sun comes up it gets hot quick and if you're not prepared to be out here this kind of stuff happens unfortunately once they have finished assessing the scene agents emblem and smith head back to the base [Music] although their faces are unknown to many the exploits of yuma's borestar unit are legendary agent emblem reflects on a mission that he will remember for the rest of his his motorcycle to life end of a busy holiday weekend and the kid got in a real bad accident went to do a buggy and ended up ripping his leg off complete evolution of one of his legs our guys are out here just getting ready to go uh they treated the kid they stabilized them helicopter came out transported him to your regional medical center that's probably one of the most rewarding things the kid lost his leg surprisingly enough he was out there a year later the u.s mexican border is 1951 miles long crossing through the states of california arizona new mexico and texas the tucson sector includes the border stations of douglas naco and nogales and it is the highest illegal alien and drug trafficking corridor in the u.s nogales is a dusty border town 60 miles south of tucson a 15-foot metal wall has been erected from salvaged aircraft carrier landing mats this iron curtain cuts straight through the middle of the town separating nogales from its sister town nogales sonora which lies on the mexican side of the border illegal immigrants will travel hundreds of miles to nagala sonora hoping to be smuggled across the u.s border day after day they try to crawl under or over the wall and illegally enter the united states in order to apprehend any terrorists drug smugglers and human traffickers tucson's border patrol have installed high-tech tracking devices low-light tv cameras and ground sensors border patrol agents are stationed on hillsides looking down at everything and everybody on both sides of the border routine arrests can turn into life-threatening situations as numerous agents have been attacked with knives and other sharp objects chasing undocumented intruders can be seen as a game of cat and mouse the stakes are high and neither side can afford to lose agents bob bush hill and jim hawkins are two of tucson's most experienced border patrol agents they have been called in to check one of the cameras that's installed in a sewage tunnel running from mexico to the u.s the tunnels are often breached by brazen armed drug smugglers who take deadly pot shots at border patrol agents if they think that they're going to be caught [Music] might as well check it you go down there and check it out taking no chances agent bush hill gets his m4 rifle ready and moves into position with agent hawkins they slowly move into the dark corridor and position themselves at the entrance of the sewage tunnel door one of the greatest dangers that any border patrol agent can face is being blindsided by armed smugglers unaware if there is anyone in the tunnel agents hawkins and bush he'll brace themselves for what could be a fatal encounter that could cost both of them their lives once in position agents hawkins and bushel quickly push the door open and shine their flashlights towards the camera they realize that the camera has been smashed agent hawkins quickly enters the tunnel he has to stay alert at all times as his visibility is restricted narrowing his window of safety [Applause] there have been people through here very recently and then typically they'll come up and they also go up these side tunnels here and then they'll come out of a storm grade on the side street hoping our cameras don't see them we wouldn't go any deeper than this normally without support because it's a very narrow area and any kind of fight in here you're in an enclosed area and it can be very dangerous after inspecting the tunnel agent hawkins radios the tucson headquarters and informs them that a maintenance crew will have to come out and fix the camera within an hour of leaving the sewage tunnel agents hawkins and bush hill get a call to chase down a group of undocumented immigrants that have triggered one of the ground sensors while walking through the sonoran desert the job of a border patrol agent is not just risky it's life-threatening a routine search can often escalate into a perilous situation i was just finishing up a midnight shift and i was out tracking in a canyon and i ran into a group of about 30 people and the smuggler told them that to pick up rocks and basically kill me so they could get away because there was only one guy if they got past me they thought they'd get away so i had 30 people trying to surround me and basically smash my head in with big [Music] rocks tracking a group of illegal aliens often takes several days however it does not take long before agent hawkins notices some fresh footprints this is really fresh once he identifies them and locates what direction the prince are headed he begins his pursuit tracking a set of fresh footprints for several hours requires a great deal of knowledge skill and concentration border patrol agents are taught ancient tracking skills called cutting sign these hunting techniques have been used by tribes such as the sioux navajo lakota kickapoo and chickasaw agents hawkins and bush hill can look at desert vegetation and tell you how recently a blade of grass has been touched by a human they can spot a hair snagged on a low branch twigs bent or broken by a passerby or even a single fiber strand left by a marijuana filled sack they can quickly discern faint footprints in the desert dust these are old you can tell by the way the rain is textured the soil inside there's a new track there's an old one see how it's dimpled from the ring november blue shell november 28th after tracking the illegal aliens for nearly three hours agent hawkins calls for assistance from one of the air units the pilot of the helicopter flies ahead in the direction of the footprints to see if he can locate the fleeing suspect who is trying so desperately to get away years on the job have enabled agents hawkins and bushild to gain a great deal of knowledge they know that patience and persistence are as important as technical tracking ability they can't push too hard in the unforgiving sonoran desert or else it will be them who will be in need of medical attention within a few minutes the pilot is able to locate a suspicious looking person only a few hundred feet from agents hawkins and bushel bob i got signed here as the helicopter hovers above agent hawkins quickly moves and digs a 36 year old man out of the bush when you're in a foot pursuit it is kind of dangerous you see how rough the terrain is so you have the risk of personal injury just falling breaking bones that sort of thing going off a cliff which i've done twice already but um also you can't see the person's hands or the front of their body typically you don't know if they have a weapon or not and they can turn around and open fire on you and in a matter of you know one second so it is dangerous and again if you have to put your hands on the person and physically subdue them you don't know if they have a knife on them or a gun so it can get very hairy the pilot of the helicopter calls for transportation agent hawkins hands him over to a fellow agent who will take him back to their nogales headquarters where he will check to see if he has a criminal record the uh-60l blackhawk helicopter is 64 feet long and almost 8 feet wide this powerful aircraft is fitted with two twin turboshaft engines within seconds the pilot can be racing through the sonoran desert at speeds of 180 miles an hour and can climb to a height of 3 000 feet in the air this gives the border patrol agents the advantages of high altitude surveillance peripheral vision and a rapid speed of response for the pilot to get a clear view at night of terrorists drug smugglers and human traffickers uses lightweight night vision goggles the light amplification device takes available light from the moon or stars and intensifies it this gives the border patrol agents an element of surprise as they can emerge from darkness and be on top of their assailants before they know it [Music] for yuma's border patrol agents the night shift is the busiest and most dangerous time to patrol the u.s mexican border smugglers of drugs and people will stop at nothing in order to ferry their cargo to its drop-off point in the u.s they will dash across the desert with little care for anyone who gets in their way [Music] 30 minutes after takeoff and the radio is already buzzing with urgent calls for assistance agent emblem responds to a high-speed chase between a ground agent and a driver in a white van who is traveling at 70 miles an hour down the highway the van contains a smuggler and 10 undocumented immigrants who are packed airtight in the back i know what we got is a large group down here on the west side of family uh they're down here in the sedan grass we're going to begin the area and find them for the ground okay yeah we got it we got it okay okay guys vehicles gonna be a white uh four-door suv west of foothills boulevard as soon as agent emblem spots the van he illuminates it this permits the ground agents to lock onto its location suddenly the smuggler takes a sharp turn to the right and heads off into the desert the dangers are rapidly heightened when the smuggler turns off his headlights in an attempt to get away from the oncoming border patrol agents such reckless action puts the undocumented immigrants in immense danger the smuggler can't see more than a few feet in front of his van if he hits a divot then it could catapult the vehicle killing everybody inside it yeah they said agent emblem has been a border patrol agent for over nine years and still to this day he can't come to terms with smuggler's utter disrespect for human life it's a business to them they need to get their human cargo if you will from mexico to the smugglers on the u.s side as quick as possible and then they go back and they smuggle another group if they lose a few on the way i don't think they care less i think what they do is despicable it's the best part of our jobs when we catch them even though the smuggler is aware of the pursuing helicopter he continues to press on the accelerator barreling through the desert at over 50 miles an hour he's coming up on that first dirt intersection there guys right underneath the hawk [Applause] he suddenly makes an abrupt right turn and heads for a suburban area only a few feet from the desert highway the police and land agents come swarming from all directions going north one block west the chase comes to an abrupt stop and the occupants make a run for it agent emblem relays the information to the ground agents who then begin to chase down the smuggler and illegal immigrants we need to get some people over here asap guys they're running okay i got a guy in the front yard the guys in the field too tell them to stop they're gonna come out the blackhawk continues to hover over the housing estate allowing ancient emblem to comb the nearby gardens fields and alleyways flushing out several of the illegal immigrants all right when one of the ground agents heads into a nearby field ancient emblem illuminates it with the beam providing him with enough light to safely apprehend four illegal immigrants as soon as the last of the illegal immigrants are in custody ancient emblem knows that his job is done and he and the rest of the crew head back to base agents boone smith and tyler emblem finish their shift by checking in their m4 rifles [Music] tomorrow brings another day that will put their survival skills to the test as they continue to secure the u.s mexican border the following morning in the snoring desert seems at peace with the world it covers a region of more than a hundred thousand square miles an arid rugged place riddled with hundreds of deep canyons and caves that offer superb coverage for the hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens that cross the u.s border annually [Music] the more star teams start their afternoon shift in a relaxed manner the mood changes when agent tyler emblem gets a call to survey the colorado river as there has been a sighting of several intruders attempting to cross into the u.s [Music] we've got a group of aliens that jump the border fence and they're skirting the edge of the canal there's usually two routes that they can take in this area where they cross down along the water along the edge of the all-amer edge of the all-american canal or up and over this hill up here called garcia's hill also on route is agent boone smith as temperatures rise to 125 degrees the state of arizona is currently experiencing one of the most severe heat waves in the last 10 years agent smith and emblem arrive at the river and are joined by agent michael bailey who is carrying an m4 rifle yes i do what's that once they are ready they head upstream agent smith and emblem know these waters like the back of their hands they know every trail where illegal aliens hide out although the water looks quite calm the border patrol agents never underestimate their terrain the river is notoriously known for its deceivingly fast undercurrents and steep non-negotiable banks ten foot reads restrict their view without being able to see what's on the other side border patrol agents run the risk of having rocks thrown at them or even being shot at right here guys on the right i'm pulling right over here agent emblem spots a movement to his right he carefully steers the boat towards the bank once they hit land agent smith and bailey head through the thick dense snake infested bush where temperatures rise to over 140 degrees throughout a 12-hour shift each agent must drink up to a gallon of water if he is to avoid severe dehydration the border train is no place for the faint-hearted as ancient smith and bailey are constantly bitten by mosquitoes they also have to walk and crawl over land that is littered a foot deep with broken bottles soiled disposable diapers clothes and syringes when pursuing illegal aliens agents smith and bailey have their senses on full alert they know they could be ambushed at any time with little space to maneuver right up around that next corner there could be a group or there could be you know people waiting for you or you know just dug into the brush so it's really it's really risky coming through these trails like this and you know these maze of trails and trying to find the group that that you want to find not to mention that it's real tough to cut sign on this it's almost near impossible so the best you can do is know where where the aliens went in and just pursue them for many illegal aliens the journey to the u.s is the ultimate dream unfortunately for others the road leads to a parched everlasting hell a lot of times the smugglers will give the aliens medication essentially speed which increases their heart rate increases their body temperature causes dehydration they act as diuretics and it'll dehydrate the people even more but they can keep going without stopping to eat and uh you know they get that kind of rush they get the rush from the speed but so they keep going the smugglers will give them medication and not even tell them you know what it is they're like here take this pill here take this pill they'll keep giving them speed as they go so that just compounds the fact you know the heat factors on them and the dehydration factors are so a lot of people are you know have taken medication and stuff and we'll find caffeine pills and fed repels on aliens all the time aliens and smugglers all the time [Music] after tracking for over an hour agents bayley and smith are unable to catch up with the group of illegal immigrants who have been squatting in the reeds they take a few moments to pay their respects to a fellow agent who perished while trying to capture a smuggler and save the lives of several illegal aliens this right here is a monument to agent james eppling it died out here on december 16 2003. uh he was uh chasing a group of aliens right off of here it was a winter time the aliens were these china believe chinese immigrants and so he was yelling at him in spanish and english and weren't understanding him and they'd been out in the middle of the river on a sand bar for quite some time well agent eppley went out rescued the aliens and uh was passing him up to his partner and said i'm gonna go after a smuggler and he was standing about knee-deep water at this time so he took off after the smuggler who was on an inner tube and starting to float back south he took off running in this knee-deep water the depth changed kind of fell into a hole near as we can tell and ended up drowning in the line of [Music] duty coyotes are individuals that are secretly hired to smuggle illegal immigrants into the united states mexican drug smugglers will often use them as decoys so that the border patrol agents will focus all their efforts trying to capture them while the drug smugglers ferry their cargo into the u.s without being detected the coyotes will transport up to 100 illegal immigrants at a time if any of them fall behind the coyotes will not think twice about leaving them to perish in the desert pregnant women and children have been found severely dehydrated only a few minutes from death [Music] the life of a border patrol agent is a never-ending drill often with life and death stakes agent jones spends over 10 hours a day perched on a hill that overlooks the u.s mexican border he is constantly on the lookout for terrorists drug smugglers and illegal aliens trying to cross the border as well as snipers who use high-powered weapons to fire border patrol agents just when they thought the day was coming to an end agents hawkins and bush hill get a call to say that there has been a sighting of around 20 illegal aliens who are being escorted across the border by a coyote as soon as they get within a few miles of the group of illegal aliens agent hawkins hits the gas he tests the trucks every component to the maximum as it picks up speed around every corner when pursuing someone at high speed a border patrol agent needs nerves of steel there is no room for hesitation when hurdling your truck through the desert's narrow roads and traveling at dangerous speeds of over 50 miles an hour it only takes one mistake to catapult the truck into a ditch several border patrol agents have already been killed when their truck hit a divot in the road and crashed i'll drop you off and i'll go up here in order to corner off the illegal aliens agent bush hill jumps out of the truck and heads off into the desert while agent hawkins speeds off towards the border flying over bumps and skidding around corners agent hawkins has to stay alert as he chases down the coyote who is trying to make his way back to mexico despite all of his training and protective equipment agent hawkins never knows how the situation is going to play out agent jones is supporting tactical operations by watching every move that agent hawkins makes as soon as agent hawkins handcuffs the coyote he hauls him to his feet and marches him back to his truck agent hawkins has to constantly scan the area as he never knows who else is out there one thing is for sure border patrol agents are constantly watched by drug smugglers on the mexican side of the border the immediate danger is the person you're dealing with you don't know who you have until you get them back and screened and put through the system so you have to treat that individual as if they are a threat until you have them secure handcuffed in a vehicle properly searched and they no longer pose a threat but while you're doing that you also have to be aware of your surroundings there could be somebody else out there somebody trying to come up behind you if you don't have a partner or a camera watching your back it's up to you and you have to be aware of your surroundings because if you focus on that one person too much you you'll get what we call tunnel vision and at that point somebody can walk up behind you and take you out while you're trying to deal with the other person with the coyote safely secured agent hawkins drives a half mile downhill to help process the 17 illegal immigrants that were caught by agent bushel arizona has become the principal and deadliest gateway for illegal immigrants it accounts for nearly one-third of the 1.5 million people captured illegally crossing the border each year an average of 400 people die every year while attempting to cross the border from mexico to the u.s they are willing to risk everything even death under the scorching sun to get to their destination [Music] agent tyler emblem has been tracking a large group of illegal aliens throughout the sonoran desert for over three hours we're going up to the north river area on the arizona side of the colorado river there's a lot of people crossing in this area it's one of the busiest if not the busiest area in the united states right now for illegal border crossers this is pretty much ground zero where we're at while tracking at night border patrol agents do it from their hummers in order to cover more ground in less time agent emblem is able to track a set of prints by shining his flashlight along the ground working alone at night can be daunting for even the most experienced border patrol agent agent emblem has to keep cool at all times especially when moving through the narrow reeds near the water's edge if he was ambushed by armed drug smugglers he would have little room to maneuver or escape just checking the water's edge to see if there's any groups that have crossed here on the rafts might be making their way up along the river trail here uh as you can see it's real easy for them to hide down in here oh you wouldn't know they were here unless you got out on foot and came down here looking for them so you can't just stay in your vehicle you got to get down here and and beat the brush with the with the aliens down here you can see right here where they came out of the water there's a barefoot right here and a couple running w tennis shoes a little swim across or wrapped across right here then they'll make their way uh along the edge of the rivers through the thick brush here it's uh real easy for them to get right back across the river it's only maybe 50 yards here to my left ancient emblem picks up fresh foot signs and is able to locate the direction the group of illegal aliens is going in once on the move agent emblem radios agent boone smith for assistance he then heads back north into the heart of the sonoran desert tracking illegal aliens can be a frightening experience especially when it's a large group of people well when we're out here working in the desert we typically come across it's usually groups of people large groups of people it's not just you know one-on-one or one-on-two it's you know there's one agent where for probably you know 20 30 sometimes you know 40 people i think one of the biggest groups i ever had it was me and two other guys and we had 99 people out here if a group was really willing and really aggressive they could turn on the agent and then you're in a really bad way you're outnumbered and your engineer's backup would be you know 20 30 40 minutes away that's if you can get to your radio to call for help you know when that happens you kind of gotta you gotta control the situation you offer a strong confident presence a lot of the time that's good enough the important thing is to go home at the end of the night i'll go home safe you know and do your job to best your ability ancient emblem has to pay attention and focus on where the tracks are going as there are various footprints heading in different directions you really really have to concentrate this stuff out here when it gets into this harder ground because there's so many other groups that have crossed out here you lose concentration just for a little bit you go to pick up your radio or just take your eyes off them for a little bit get on the wrong stuff and spend a little bit of time trying to straighten things out so when you get up here into the softer sand it'll be a little bit easier even though tracking down illegal intruders can take a long time agents emblem and smith are working against the clock they can tell by the footprints there are small children in the group if they do not apprehend the group before sunrise then by midday the young and the old will stand little chance of surviving the penetrating heat of the desert got him up here yeah i'm gonna throw in my overheads let him know that i've got the uh i got the foot sign up here all right chase is on agent smith hits the gas and his truck accelerates through the desert he knows that he is agent emblem's only backup within 10 square miles okay boom i got bodies here uh can just light up once agent emblem catches up to the group of illegal immigrants he stops his truck and instructs them to stand up slowly and put their hands on their heads he then tells them to get into a single file agent smith arrives on the scene with a 50-year-old man that was hiding behind a bush illegal immigrants are willing to risk everything in order to get to a safe house in the u.s border town they will often travel through the sun seared terrain for numerous days on end with little water see this little one here is four this is a perfect of a group you'll get out here right now it's uh one o'clock in the morning if you look north of here there's there's nothing but open desert this group gets out here it doesn't look to me like they have much water and we'll check here in a minute but come sunrise eight nine o'clock in the morning it's gonna be 90 degrees at eight nine o'clock in the morning uh by ten o'clock it might already be a hundred so you need a group like this with these kids they can't keep up this is you're just just looking for problems here these are the groups that it's important we catch before they get too far north and they get into the danger zones when we have kids the parents overcompensate you know there's women out here who will be carrying their kids and just they can't you know what's up eat hate distress eat illness dehydration and uh like you know i mentioned earlier that you know there's times where where you'll find the children and they're still they're still alive and they're still doing fine but the mother's dead because she's been carrying the children across you know across the hot desert all day and uh giving the children all all her water you know the young males that have made this you know trip a couple times they're healthy they're in good shape you know they can usually fight through this stuff but uh it's the young kids the women the older people they're gonna have real problems crossing this desert in day or night you know i i have a daughter that's you know one of those kids age and i'll tell you i would never ever put my kids through with with these what these guys are putting their kids through tonight not not in a million years six two threes so we got nine nine bottles of water here that total of maybe uh four gallons of water and hole for one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve people so four gallons for 12 people that's uh this is an accident waiting to happen out here after agents emblem and smith have checked that the group are not suffering from dehydration they begin to search the bags of those they suspect are smugglers when apprehending smugglers border patrol agents have to interpret their actions in a fraction of a second as events can spiral out of control while agent emblem searches the coyotes agent smith checks their bags for concealed weapons this guy's got a cell phone battery he's got it inside his bag there this guy's probably our smuggler uh we'll talk to the fos on duty tonight when we get back to the station this guy's a little bit shady okay they're young they're in the front they don't really fit in you know you got a bunch of young kids and families and stuff and then these two guys or this guy right here i think this guy is i don't i don't know i have to look into it more [Music] [Music] once all of the illegal aliens are in the truck they are taken to a holding center in yuma where they will stay overnight before they are deported back to mexico on a quiet road less than a mile outside the city of nogales arizona agents hawkins and bush hill are sitting quietly in their truck they are awaiting orders to assist fellow agents who have been tipped off about the illegal import of over 200 pounds of marijuana into the united states they gear up testing their night vision goggles that turn the night from dense blackness punctured by stars into an eerie green tinted landscape on which they can see every bush and on which people show up like glowing ghosts [Music] as soon as they've been informed that there's been a sighting of several mules who are responsible for transporting the marijuana they move into action u.s border patrol agents are a special breed of law enforcement officers at night the u.s mexican border can become a place of incredible violence [Music] you need those extra mags bob no okay agent bush quickly checks his m4 rifle as a split-second decision makes the difference between life and death the border patrol agents begin to comb the hillside in search of drug smugglers while some agents search for the drugs others stand guard as their biggest fear is the sharpshooters that work for the drug smugglers they only have to pop their heads over the fence for a split second and it could result in the death of an agent this close to the fence is especially bad they know we can't chase them into mexico and they'll stand on the mexican side and shoot at us so that's why we waited until we had critical mass and a lot of support agents and when we go up here we come up in force you notice none of the guys have the flashlights on so we're using light discipline none of them are really talking very loud because we don't want to give our positions away we're still very hard to see at night typically we wouldn't jump narcotics as close to the fence but they're only going to this neighborhood right down here to a safe house so it's a matter of two minutes before they get to where they need to go so we had to jump them as quickly as possible that's a very dangerous situation for agents continue to sweep the area unearthing every hiding place searching for the mules and the shipment of drugs the cameras picked up two more of the mules and they're running to the east they were just down right here and picked them up on our infrared cameras and uh bob is actually the closest one to him so he's gonna go try to see if he can't find him there is no room for error or second guessing a fellow agent's actions everything has to run smoothly and without a hitch as their lives are on the line an agent finds several containers of marijuana the smugglers have abandoned their cargo and headed back across the border as soon as they feel their job is done border patrol agents start pulling out of the danger zone he's gonna run his dog again although no arrests were made the agents seized over 200 pounds of marijuana if they did not take control of the marijuana then within days it would have been sold on street corners throughout the u.s it's estimated that nearly half the 65 billion u.s worth of narcotics bought by americans each year comes through mexico as much as 90 percent of cocaine sold in the united states is smuggled through the mexican territory mexico is also the number two supplier of heroin and the largest foreign source of marijuana it's 3 am an ancient emblem has caught his fifth group of illegal aliens even though he understands their quest for a better life in the united states he is bound to his duty to uphold the law you just never know uh who's coming in uh yeah it's true majority of people want to come and earn an honest living i understand that but people need to come to the front door here we have immigration laws set up for a reason and they should be followed we need to assure that people that wish to do this country harm people that live in this country harm we need to make sure that we that we're there to intercept them as they cross our border that's what everybody does out here day in and day out night in and night out people working this border to intercept everybody that comes in some do get away and we hope they're not the bad ones [Music] [Music] you

Channel: FD Real

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Keywords: Free Documentary, Reality Shows, Reality TV Shows, Show (TV Genre), Documentaries, Factual Entertainment, Factual Television, non-fiction, Best factual series, FD Real, Risk Takers, Dangerous Jobs, Dangerous Work, Documentary, most dangerous jobs, most dangerous jobs in the world, United States, Border Patrol, US Border Patrol, Mexico, United States Mexico Border, Illegal Immigration, Border Wall, Build the Wall, ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Id: 3HbCXaRzLEs

Length: 50min 3sec (3003 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 03 2021