Border Force: America's Gatekeepers - Episode Guide

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.