Border Wars

Border Patrol Agents William Ortiz and Eduardo Berlanga try to intercept a pickup truck filled with people who have crossed illegally from Mexico. When they reach the vehicle, they realize that two of the passengers are young twin girls. The situation heats up when they learn that the man claiming to be their father apparently is not being truthful.

A special undercover group shuts down a house in Nogales where illegal immigrants are believed to be living. After the house is surrounded and its occupants apprehended, agents must pick out the human smugglers, or "coyotes," and get these suspected criminals off the streets

Aviation Enforcement Pilot John Manheimer and his Black Hawk team patrol the Sonoran Desert searching for illegal border crossers and drug smugglers. After an unmanned aerial vehicle spots suspected illegal border crossers in the mountains, Aviation Enforcement Officer Oscar Peru and his crew deploy to round them up in the rugged terrain. From a remote border patrol station, teams of five agents do seven-day rotations and are on call 24/7.

A young man drowns trying to cross the Rio Grande, and agents must now identify him and return his body to his family. Next, agents and officers target a human smuggling operation and raid a safe house containing more than 20 illegal immigrants living in cramped, unsuitable conditions. And inspection of a bell pepper shipment finds tiny invasive snails that could destroy thousands of acres of cropland if introduced into the U.S.

An 18-wheeler carrying more than 1,000 pounds of concealed marijuana is discovered by a rookie agent and his canine partner. Meanwhile, a group of illegal crossers takes agents on a four-hour chase. An Ecuadorian woman and her young daughter - injured, dehydrated and famished - are rescued from the harsh terrain after being abandoned by smugglers, and face deportation unless the mother can prove they have reason to fear for their lives back home.

At the border checkpoint in Hidalgo, Texas, a seemingly ordinary car is found to have firearms and ammunition hidden in its console and under its bumpers. Members of BORTAC, the tactical unit that identifies smuggling routes, discover what could be a remote transfer point for illicit goods. Further surveillance supports their theory, and the team hopes to close in on an active operation - if they can avoid detection by cartel scouts.

Drugs, guns, cars and money are just some of the items confiscated on a typical day by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). But what happens to this contraband after it is seized?

Along the El Paso-Juarez border, agents and officers of the Department of Homeland Security investigate a young couple who are suspected human smugglers, uncover a floor of marijuana in an SUV, and target a high-level supplier in a drug sting.

CBP agents dismantle an observation point used by smugglers to monitor agents' movements in the remote desert, and seize a vehicle attempting to carry weapons and nearly $800,000 back to the Mexican cartels.

Agents put themselves in harm’s way searching for armed smugglers fleeing a shoot-out with the Mexican military. Once at the riverbanks, they find a suspected smuggler who has been shot five times. Their mission quickly changes as they rush to save the man’s life.

Drug smuggling has reached “Texas-sized” proportions in the Rio Grande Valley. A canine unit detects a suspicious vehicle coming in from Mexico, and agents discover a massive quantity of methamphetamine concealed within.

Law enforcement battles to intercept the massive flow of illicit traffic moving through the Rio Grande Valley. Agents in McAllen, Texas, track a group of illegal immigrants in the dark and find themselves outnumbered in a large field.

Illegal traffic between the Rio Grande and the Falfurrias Checkpoint in South Texas.

Tactical cat-and-mouse games used in the war on drugs.

South Texas has become a hotspot for smuggling activities on the border.

In the Rio Grande Valley, money has become something of a drug — corrupting people's lives and luring them into believing in its broken promises. Officers at the Brownsville Port of Entry are performing a “blitz” enforcement operation — random searches for contraband — to deter the onslaught of smugglers. In nearby Laredo, Lucky and the narcotics unit hunt down desperate heroin dealers who are selling hits of black tar in school zones for $20.

Follow along as border patrol agents hunt down drug runners and illegal immigrants trying to cross the border and sneak into the U.S. any way they possibly can.