

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.

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?
Aired: 4/8/2025
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?