I have a new favorite TV show and the title of this entry is the show itself. As I always tell Alex, I like reality shows. Homeland Security USA depicts real life situations that happen in international airports, borders, and other entry points of legal and illegal aliens getting to US. It is very challenging to watch how border patrol agents and members of TSA detect suspicious travellers and drug lords crossing the border to the US. I will tell you some situations in the last three episodes showing how desperate and stupid people can be in their desire to enter this country.
1. There is this Hispanic man in an JFK airport in NY that was about to throw up while waiting for his luggage. The TSA members were alarmed and guided him to a bathroom. Still he did not feel well. So he sent him to a doctor who performed an Xray of his stomach. Alas, 28 1.5-inch pellets were found inside him! They guided him to the bathroom again and asked him to throw them all up. He released 5 of them. When TSA inspected what the pellets are, they discovered there's heroine inside!Sigh* All 28 pellets in his tummy is worth $100,000!!! Stupid.Stupid.Stupid.
2. Another interesting situation happened in the border between US and Mexico. A woman was walking to a bridge that connected the two countries. What caught the border patrol agents' attention was, she was covering her mouth with a mask. They confronted her about it and did interrogation. She removed her mask and claimed she had a dental work done. She even showed the cotton inside her mouth. When the agents asked for her green card, she showed them a card with a different face. The face on the greencard looks chubbier and cheeky, so that explains why she was wearing a mask and pretended to have dental work while crossing the borders so her face would appear cheeky and chubbier. She said somebody sold the greencard to her and the money she spent for that was her savings for 5yrs. She looked sincere and telling the truth. Her face was not a face of a deceitful woman. She said she did not know what to do in Mexico after they'd release her. She does not have family anymore. When she was about to cry, the agents started going to the bathroom one by one to wipe their tears. They understood the situation but they had to do their job. They let her go back to Mexico with good and encouraging words.
3. One car in US-Mexico border 120 miles from San Diego was about to pass inspection successfully when a K-9 dog approached the car and would not let go. The dog went round and round the vehicle. The agents were concerned because they already inspected everything in the car and the driver was cleared. But the dog knew more than that. It smelled the tires one by one, and round and round the car. The agents went to touch the tires and there, they sensed something inside. They cut one of the rubber tires and there, they saw packets of drugs. Man, another desperate guy. So they led the driver aside and did processing.
These are just some of the situations shown in my new favorite show. Reality. Drama. Challenge. Intellect. Instinct. They're all in Homeland Security USA.
I want to be a border patrol someday!=)
