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CNN Live At Daybreak

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Aired September 07, 2001 - 08:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
VINCE CELLINI, CNN ANCHOR: In the West, a patrol force known as "Shadow Wolves" is on the hunt for prey.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: It sounds like a new TV show, doesn't it?

CELLINI: A great name, isn't it?

LIN: Yes, but something very different.

CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARMAINE HARRIS, SHADOW WOLVES TRACKER: They're trying to hide their tracks.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The jagged terrain and thorny brush of the Arizona desert might seem like the perfect place to hide.

JASON GARCIA, SHADOW WOLVES TRACKER: As far as laying there, anybody can travel through here without being bothered.

HARRIS: This looks suspicious the way they crossed.

LAVANDERA: But a U.S. Customs crew called the Shadow Wolves knows the secrets of this land. Made up of 18 American Indians, the group tracks drug smugglers.

HARRIS: That way.

LAVANDERA: The Shadow Wolves patrol more than 4,500 square miles. They use ancient skills to find their prey.

GARCIA: Our ancestors hunted for animals, game, you know, to survive. Well, we're in some aspects doing the same things, but we're hunting for people to catch them with contraband.

HARRIS: We're looking for their tracks where they crossed. See, there they are.

LAVANDERA: Charmaine Harris is the first female Shadow Wolf. She is on the trail of what she believes are three drug smugglers.

HARRIS: They're doing a good job. I'm having a hard time following them.

GARCIA: This is where he was coming through.

LAVANDERA: When the trail runs cold on the ground, she looks up.

HARRIS: I would probably check this right here and see if they left anything on here. And there was -- see that, that's a burlap right there.

LAVANDERA: A miniscule clue: it's common for smugglers to carry drugs in burlap sacks, so she knows they walk through this brush.

HARRIS: They carry the contraband.

GARCIA: I'm going to walk west from the black hill, and see if I can pick them up.

LAVANDERA: A few miles away, Jason Garcia hops on the trail. He is looking for footprints.

GARCIA: One I would describe has a rainbow pattern; the other one had small and diamonds throughout the shoe.

LAVANDERA: Garcia comes across two illegal immigrants. Their shoes don't match the smuggler's prints. He hands them over to the Border Patrol, then after several hours, Garcia tries to get back on track.

GARCIA: There's three sets of tracks here. It looks like these are our guys. I do see the one with the diamond pattern. This must be the one that they describe as the fancy one.

LAVANDERA: The Shadow Wolves' work demands patience. Twenty- five-year veteran, Marvin Eleando, knows that in a high-tech age...

MARVIN ELEANDO, SHADOW WOLVES TRACKER: I'm coming in that direction.

LAVANDERA: ... learning to become a traditional tracker isn't as attractive as it once was.

ELEANDO: Nobody teaches it or nobody wants to, you know, learn it. You know, it's going to eventually die out, and we won't have anybody doing this anymore.

LAVANDERA: The Shadow Wolves capture more than 70 percent of all U.S. Customs seizures in their territory. They know what they catch is dwarfed by what makes it through.

GARCIA: Yes, (speaking in native tongue).

LAVANDERA: But for the Shadow Wolves, tracking smugglers preserves a way of life.

GARCIA: The way I see it is it's not so much a trespassing issue, but more of a lack of respect for the people who have lived her for thousands of years.

HARRIS: Go ahead and come up 7.5.

LAVANDERA: About 10 hours on the trail and still no luck. The three smugglers have eluded the Shadow Wolves, but they'll keep hunting. The trail will heat up again.

GARCIA: We just notice that something is out of the ordinary -- out of place.

LAVANDERA: Ed Lavandera, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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