Airport Security: USA
Every day, 3 million airline passengers travel into the United States— and every one of them is screened and their baggage checked by one of the 40,000 officers who work on America’s front line. This series documents the challenges faced by CBP at four of the busiest airports in the US including Atlanta, Honolulu, Detroit, San Francisco and Newark. From career drug smugglers and human traffickers to less serious visa and passport defaulters, everyone who comes into the United States by air is subject to scrutiny.
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Ep 1Episode 1
At San Francisco International Airport, a man attempts to smuggle four kilos of marijuana into the United Kingdom. Although the drug is legal in California, its export is a federal criminal offense. Instead of a lavish profit, the victim faces a long prison sentence. Meanwhile, a passenger from South Korea has completely different problems: When he tries to board the plane to Seoul, homeland security investigators intercept him. Is the alleged tourist a North Korean spy?
Ep 2Episode 2
At Newark Liberty International Airport, passengers try to import contraband from Egypt – including a bag of cow dung. Meanwhile, officials in San Francisco are holding a woman entering from Japan. She confesses that she came to America to work as a prostitute. Was she abducted against her will?
Ep 3Episode 3
Officers in Newark discover marijuana in children's toys and the hallucinogenic drug DMT in the luggage of a passenger in San Francisco. Unusual weapons cause a stir during the screening of hunters from Africa. And: A man who wants to return to Ghana before his asylum hearing is stopped.
Ep 4Episode 4
A young woman wants to pick up her mother, who is visiting from Chile, at San Francisco airport. The daughter comes directly and still somewhat threatened from a music festival. In her backpack she has marijuana, which is now legal in California. She has the sobering experience that different laws apply at an international airport. Meanwhile, in Newark, an investigator questions a woman from Ghana who is suspected of being part of an international gang of car thieves.
Ep 5Episode 5
At Newark Liberty International Airport, a Dominican tries to bring 50 live baby fighting fish to the United States, but without an import license, such quantities are prohibited. A US citizen wants to enter the country with Cuban cigars, which are illegal to import into the US due to an embargo. Chinese tourists do not adequately declare their amounts of cash. And: At Honolulu International Airport, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials locate a cocaine shipment in cargo luggage.
Ep 6Episode 6
A man is arrested at San Francisco airport for trying to smuggle kilos of cannabis into the United Kingdom, where marijuana is illegal, unlike in California. Major operation in Detroit: US customs and border officials filter a plane from Mexico, along with passengers and luggage, in a 100 percent inspection. In Honolulu, customs discovered pirated excavators. And: At Newark Airport, a Dominican failed to re-enter the country after 29 years in the United States. Welcome to the USA.
