Border Force: America's Gatekeepers

In this episode, a shipment of cardboard packaging hides a deadly secret; heroin disguised as a computer laptop baffles the world's most advanced narcotic detection device while the diligence of agriculture specialists pays off – and saves America's forestry from a potentially devastating insect infestation.

Officers are on high alert for a cartel ambush as they transfer a Sicario over one of the 28 border bridges and into the custody of the Mexico military. A random inspection of a pick-up truck reveals 32 kilogrammes of narcotics, while a man, his aluminium shed and a broken key brings chaos – then smiles – in Laredo.

Officers are suspicious when an elderly couple arrive from Mexico with five suitcases but no clothes, and a truck carrying garden furniture has something extra in the load.

Officers pull over a businessman from Mexico who is making a rare journey to the US in a brand new car and a pedestrian gets more than he bargains for when he is mistaken for a wanted man.

Officers in Brownsville process an American citizen who crossed over the Rio Grande 20 years ago - and discover the reason he didn't want to come back.

A Cuban woman crosses the bridge in the hope of being granted political asylum in America, while officers in Laredo stop three students carrying something unusual in their car.

Customs and Border Protection officers are stunned when they discover more than $2million of cocaine mixed in with gallons of household paint and bottles of beer.

Vigilant Customs and Border Protection officers uncover 5,000 rounds of ammunition being smuggled across Hidalgo Bridge into Mexico.

A new recruit fresh out of training school makes her mark when she uncovers 12kg of cocaine hidden in a car that she has stopped on one of the bridges.

Officers in Hidalgo are forced to close the bridge when it's stormed by dozens of asylum seekers trying to jump the queue of people waiting to seek refuge in the USA.

The 2,000-mile border that separates Texas and Mexico is the busiest international boundary in the world. On the United States side, Customs and Border Protection officers have the job of keeping goods and people flowing in both directions while making sure that guns, drugs and other contraband don't make it across the border. The challenge is daunting: on one side is the ruthlessly-efficient Mexican drug cartels; on the other, the biggest - and most lucrative - drug market on earth. Borderforce: America's Gatekeepers follows CBP officers stationed at 12 of the 28 international bridges that straddle the border and documents the immense challenges that the officers face on a daily basis.

Officers in Progreso are on the lookout for day-trippers trying to smuggle prescription pills back into America, bought cheaply from one of the 200 pharmacies just on the other side of the border. At the Juarez Lincoln bridge a new recruit is waiting for her first drugs seizure – and strikes gold when she stops an SUV heading for Atlanta. And as night falls on Brownsville, a suspected courier for one of the Mexican cartels is questioned about why she has tried to smuggle $50,000 in cash out of the country.

Officers' suspicions are raised on the Pharr International Bridge when a routine X-ray reveals suspicious packages hidden inside the tyres of a pick-up truck. Convinced that they contain hardcore narcotics, Customs and Border Protection officers call in a specialised team to help extract the packages from the tyres. Meanwhile, in McAllen, officers seize a huge shipment of marijuana - worth over $50 million.

People forced out of their homes in Honduras by the notorious MS-13 gang plead their case for asylum in America. Officers discover 3,000lb of marijuana hidden in a cargo truck.

Officers prepare to transfer two members of a cartel. In Laredo, a cop from Caracas, Venezuela, pleads his case for asylum in the United States.

A refugee from Venezuela tells officers how she paid human traffickers to smuggle her to the Mexico-US border. In Laredo, an American couple are caught smuggling methamphetamine.

A family from Venezuela plead with officers to enter America. In Progreso, a suspected drug dealer is caught smuggling pills in his underpants.

More than 100 boxes full of drugs are discovered inside an unlikely vehicle at the World Trade Bridge. In Progreso, a suspected gang member attempts to cross into the United States.

A man kidnapped and beaten by a Mexican drug cartel flees across the bridge into America. At Progreso International Bridge, a woman is caught hiding anti-anxiety pills in her bra.

Officers intercept an arsenal of weapons being smuggled into Mexico, a deadly consignment of Fentanyl is discovered in a freezer and agroup of Guatemalan immigrants is stranded at the bridges.

Officers discover the fuel tanks on a truck are full of liquid meth. Three men wearing identical clothing cause suspicion. A man is caught smuggling reptiles.

A woman is suspected of smuggling someone else's baby over the border. Drugs are found hidden in a consignment of carrots. A pill smuggler is caught following an earlier tip-off.

A man travelling with two children that aren't his is questioned. A traveller is caught smuggling cash. Officers find drugs in a flat-bed truck.

Officers discover UPS packages lined with drugs. A 14-year-old runaway is picked up at the Gateway to the Americas Bridge. A mother of three is caught trying to smuggle $350k of marijuana.

In Progreso officers detain a man wanted for a rape. In Pharr 840kg of meth is discovered in the floor of a truck. Aromatic candles filled with Fentanyl are intercepted at the World Trade Bridge.

Two 16-year-old girls are suspected of smuggling drugs for a cartel. A man is caught trying to enter the US with false documents. Marijuana worth $7 million is found inside rolls of carpet.

Packages of meth are found inside the wall of a trailer. Two brothers are caught smuggling pills. Prohibited Mexican delicacies are intercepted. Officers detain a man who vandalises a sign.

In Progreso a twenty-year-old girl is caught smuggling pills, whilst in Laredo 500kg of marijuana is found hidden inside a consignment of household goods.

Meth is found inside a truck driver's speakers, a Mexican boy claiming US citizenship is questioned, and a young woman is caught smuggling Tramadol.

A large shipment of fake fentanyl pills is intercepted, an automatic rifle is found inside a loudspeaker, and a woman dealing drugs for her boyfriend is captured.

A truck with a shipment of wet wipes turns out to have a secret hidden inside, and a US citizen is caught with thousands of Tramadol tablets hidden in his hand luggage.

A huge shipment of cocaine is found hidden in the floor of a truck, a young man tries to enter the US to enrol in school, and a woman is caught smuggling fentanyl pills.

A woman is caught trying to enter the US with a baby that isn't hers, a man wanted for a serious crime is intercepted, and a driver has a heart attack while crossing a bridge.

Methamphetamine is found in a shipment of broccoli, an elderly man tries to smuggle pills in protein powder, and a woman receives a humanitarian visa to see her dying son.

Money and guns belonging to a cartel are found in a car, an illegal shipment of exotic reptiles is discovered in a van, and a man is caught smuggling medication.

An armed robber on the run is captured at the border, a drunk driver causes a three-car crash on a bridge, and cocaine is found hidden inside office furniture.

Thousands of dollars of cartel cash are found hidden in an engine, an intoxicated 17-year-old requires urgent medical treatment, and cocaine is found in bags of rubbish.

Cocaine is found hidden inside the wall of a refrigerated truck, and a Honduran immigrant fleeing gang violence applies for asylum in the US.

A shipment of meth disguised as concrete is intercepted, and officers interview a Haitian immigrant who has crossed nine countries on foot to reach America.

Millions of dollars-worth of marijuana is found hidden in a shipment of matresses, and officers detain a mother and daughter who've been smoking meth. 

A man wanted for murder is apprehended at the border. Officers discover more than 80 kilos of cocaine hidden inside a tractor trailer.

Officers investigate a collector travelling with parts of a space rocket, and 380 kilograms of crystal meth is discovered in a shipment of limes.

24 kilograms of cocaine are found concealed in the air tank of a truck, and a cache of weapons bound for Mexico is intercepted.

Officers intercept a shipment of hundreds of gun parts headed for Mexico, a nurse is caught smuggling pills in her boots, and a traveller carrying goat meat is inspected.

A tip-off unearths a vast shipment of heroin and cocaine disguised as garbage bags, and officers respond to a medical emergency and deal with a drunken US Marshal.

More than 130 packets of cocaine are found hidden in the seats of a bus, a car explodes in the middle of the bridge, and a retiring officer makes his final bust.

Officers discover fentanyl hidden in the backseat of a car, and two elderly sisters are caught trying to smuggle more than 600 tramadol pills.

Officers make a massive seizure of meth hidden inside fruit crates, a former teacher is taken surprise by a warrant for her arrest, and a Syrian man begs for help.

120 kilograms of cocaine are discovered in the axles of a lowboy trailer, and two men are caught attempting to smuggle a rooster for cock-fighting.

Packages of cocaine are found concealed in the chassis of a bus, officers receive a tip-off about a vehicle loaded with cartel cash, and a magician comes under scrutiny.

A shipment of cocaine is discovered in the fifth wheel of a tractor-trailer, and officers searching a courier van find a cache of firearms.

More stories from the documentary series that looks at the 28 bridges that cross the notorious Rio Grande, between Texas and Mexico, and provide a gateway for legitimate goods and a lucrative pipeline for illegal contraband, weapons and drugs. Officers in Eagle Pass seize over 15 kilograms of heroin and unveil a new cartel drug-smuggling tactic, and a Mexican family in Laredo makes a plea for humanitarian parole.

Officers hand over a convict to Mexican authorities in the middle of the Juarez Lincoln bridge, and a man drops a marijuana joint on a customs floor in Progreso.

A man fears for his life after being stopped by a cartel in Laredo, clubbers in Detroit are found with drugs disguised in liquid, and officers stop a shipment of frozen rats.

Border officers in Detroit apprehend a woman after finding a handgun and ammunition in her vehicle, and officers in Eagle Pass find $150,000-worth of methamphetamine.

Officers find a manmade compartment within the trailer of a truck returning Stateside, and two Americans arouse suspicions with an unsafe lane change at the US-Canada border.

Officers at Eagle Pass intercept a driver smuggling narcotics over the border, and a group of passengers in Laredo refuse to admit to owning an air compressor full of rifles.

Officers in Progreso detain a man who makes a dash back towards Mexico, and the team in Laredo uncovers methamphetamine concealed in a shipment of landscaping stone.

A man wanted for serious sexual offences is apprehended in Progreso, and agents intercept a group of migrants moments after they cross the Rio Grande river.

Officers in Hidalgo seize over 200 kilos of methamphetamine concealed in a car, and the hunt is on in Detroit for some invasive insects which could destroy the US timber industry.

Officers find a suspicious compartment within the trailer of a truck returning to Texas, and a man hides over 300 cheap forms of medication about his person in Progreso.

A pedestrian is caught at Hidalgo Bridge smuggling narcotics in bags of coffee, and a nervous woman in Progreso is taken for a pat down.

Officers in Laredo intercept a truck smuggling narcotics over the border, and a courier heading to Mexico is caught delivering guns and ammunition in Eagle Pass.

Officers discover bundles of cocaine hidden inside the wheel wells of an SUV, and two retirees are caught trying to smuggle weight loss medication across the border.

Officers discover a fuel tanker with bundles of cocaine hidden in the cab, and three men with fake IDs and a gruesome video of a murder on their phones are questioned.