''To Catch a Smuggler'' is a

documentary television series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

that depicts the work of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) law enforcement officers at multiple United States airports. Violations include fraudulent visas, human trafficking, and transportation of contraband items. ''To Catch a Smuggler'' is featured on

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

. A typical episode presents several incidents of the following types: * Interviewing travelers from abroad and examining their documents (passports, visas, etc.), in order to determine whether or not to allow them to enter the country. * Examining passengers' luggage to find suspected contraband, such as drugs, undeclared currency, or prohibited food items. * Searching the bodies of individuals suspected of concealing contraband, using methods such as pat-downs, detection dogs, and X-ray scans. * Detaining individuals suspected of smuggling and turning them over to law enforcement agencies for possible prosecution. * Investigating criminal smuggling operations (drugs, weapons, counterfeit merchandise, etc.) with the goal of arresting the perpetrators. The channel features several sister series under the same title, which focus on law enforcement activities at airports and facilities in other countries, including

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

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New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and the

Dutch Caribbean The Dutch Caribbean (historically known as the Dutch West Indies) are the New World territories, colonies, and countries (former and current) of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea, mainly the norther ...

. The series has been produced b
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since 2020. National Geographic's site aligns seasons with Lucky8's production.

Episodes

Series overview

Specials (2012)

Season 1 (2020)

Season 2 (2021)

Season 3 (2022)

Season 4 (2022)

Season 5 (2023)

Season 6 (2023)

Season 7 (2024)

Season 8 (2024)

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 2562174
U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Homeland Security Investigations
American documentary television series about crime 2010s American documentary television series 2020s American documentary television series 2012 American television series debuts National Geographic (American TV channel) original programming Television series about border control