Deep concealment: searching for hidden narcotics in cars | To Catch a Smuggler

WELLE: Can you pull all the way to the front, sir?

MAN: Sure.

WELLE: Thank you. Right there is good. And then everybody step out and, uh, just sit over by that table over there please. Thank you.

If you can think of putting something in something, you'll find it here at San Ysidro. They get really creative 'cause they wanna maximize their profits as best as they can, so it's a constant game of hide and seek. (knocks)

There's all sorts of different nooks and crannies in a truck, especially a big one like this, that you can hide something. We like to check, um, everywhere in the engine compartment, the quarter panels, tires, under the vehicle as well. The trends change as to where people hide things in their car, so it's always good to be very thorough.

OFFICER: All clear.

WELLE: Um, you guys are good to go. Thank you. It was negative, so they were released, uh, to enjoy the rest of their day.

FRANCO: So this vehicle was selected for secondary inspection at the vehicle primary lane. We are gonna do a K9 inspection on it.

OFFICER: There's something there, huh? Good boy. Good boy.

FRANCO: At this point, it was a K9 hit. Therefore, we are gonna do a seven-point vehicle inspection on it and then we'll go from there to see what we find.

OFFICER: Spot back here.

FRANCO: Which one? You wanna pop it? (thudding) There you go.

OFFICER: Yeah. (thudding)

OFFICER: If there's something in there, we're gonna have to go in there and get it. (radio chatter) (thudding) (thudding)

FRANCO: There's some tampering here. So right now we're just trying to figure out and how to get into this area.

OFFICER: It's missing a lug nut.

OFFICER 2: You can tell it was recently taken off. And there's fingerprints all along the side, right? So you can tell it's recently been done. The compartment may be located behind the tire. It's the only access is through the wheel well.

FRANCO: Since it seems to be like there's some deep concealment in that trunk area, we're gonna go ahead and take the car to one of our secure areas, where we'll go ahead and lift the vehicle up and get underneath there and actually get in there deeper to find that narcotic concealment.