In an area that has become known as the Caribbean Corridor, smugglers have paved a way to push cocaine into the United States. In National Geographic’s new series, viewers will get to experience the realities of servicemen in charge of stopping the drug trade.
To Catch a Smuggler: Tropical Takedown takes viewers to several US territories, such as Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, following Air and Marine Operations and Homeland Security Investigators as they work to stop the global cocaine trade. Using boats, helicopters, drug dogs, surveillance equipment and more, these AMO and HSI agents risk their lives daily to stop smugglers and their creative methods of bringing drugs into the US. Starting out strong, viewers will get an up close view at several missions, including one on-foot pursuit, which resulted in the siege of 280 kilos of cocaine and a water investigation of a boat traveling near shore without lights carrying $750,000. Throughout the series, agents will highlight the realities of working in their industry, including training, average boat stops, illegal border crossings, high-risk encounters with criminals and more. Spanning 4 approximately 45 minute episodes, HSI and AMO agents will bust smuggling rings, seize thousands of kilos of cocaine worth 10s of millions of dollars, arrest dozens of gang members, and showcase the highly lucrative world of illegal drug trafficking.
I had the pleasure of getting to check out To Catch a Smuggler: Tropical Takedown. The series is action-packed, covered with high intensity music, which really adds to the stakes of these stories. One of the first episode’s highlights that engrossed me in the series included a scene where agents scan and cut open an apprehended boat, finding $7 million worth of cocaine buried under the floor. Jumping from different locations around the Caribbean Corridor provided a wide-scoped view of the paths smugglers travel to bring the narcotic drug from South America into the United States. While the AMO and HSI agents acknowledge there isn’t really a way to stop the drug trade, they highlight their goals of causing inconveniences and profit loss by seizing the literal boat loads of cocaine preventing it from entering the market. While this series does showcase real people and situations, Nat Geo did an incredible job at bridging entertainment with information. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this show to the whole family. The high-risk positions agents experience throughout the series feature gunfire, arrests, violence, drugs, and other material not suited for younger audiences. However, if you enjoy watching police chases, Cops, or other real-life crime series, To Catch a Smuggler: Tropical Takedown should absolutely be added to your watchlist. Catch the new National Geographic series when it premieres on October 5th, with new episodes premiering every Saturday throughout the month. Additionally, you can stream each episode the next day on Hulu.
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