As the saying goes, "Nine shallows, one pah." He had already bowed down to the previous ninety-nine times, so the last hurdle wasn't enough. Jack simply contacted Frank Regan and orchestrated a grand operation.
The ESU dispatched two additional SWAT teams and two "Bearcat" armored vehicles, one leading the way and the other providing support, to escort a SWAT team to the Federal Building.
Upon hearing that the attacker had been killed by Jack himself, Frank was relieved and carefully instructed him to be safe while remaining at the scene before hanging up.
The night vision goggles had previously indicated four infrared heat signals, indicating at least four individuals in the warehouse area. Now, only two had been confirmed. Jack and Hannah planned to remain at the scene to continue the search, leaving Aubrey to drive the escort himself.
The lucrative task of escorting a key suspect to present himself to his female superior naturally went to the newcomer. Aubrey had proven impressive in the previous anesthesiologist kidnapping case, demonstrating his quick thinking and agility. During their training together, Aubrey's marksmanship and agility were also quite good.
As for the suspect being sent to the second dimension by "Optimus Prime" right under his and Hannah's noses, that was pure bad luck. Even if Jack were in charge, it wouldn't change anything. He couldn't just pull out his gun and shoot every suspect he saw running away to prevent them from jaywalking.
With such a high-profile escort, the chances of something going wrong were practically zero. Jack had just double-checked Vargas's appearance; he wasn't a familiar face, so he wouldn't cause much of a scene.
If anything, at first glance, he did bear a passing resemblance to the protagonist of the British drama "Poirot," which ran for 70 episodes over 24 years. He'd shaved off his odd mustache and replaced it with a full, graying beard, and his demeanor was completely different.
After watching the long motorcade leave, Jack and Hannah returned to the office where they had arrested Vargas. A SWAT team was cleaning up the scene, primarily collecting the account books, which were crucial evidence.
Both the District Attorney and the DEA would likely be salivating over these ledgers. While Vargas's Durango Cartel (a fictional cartel) is admittedly inferior to the Doza cartel Jack and the SEALs fought in Mexico, it's still one of the most powerful drug cartels in Bolivia.
While cocaine and its end product, methamphetamine, once Latin America's most predominant drugs, are now being steadily eclipsed by various synthetic drugs, Bolivia, located in the "Silver Triangle," Latin America's most concentrated drug production, still has over one-tenth of its workforce involved in the production and trade of coca leaf.
Coca leaf is the raw material for cocaine. In other words, excluding the elderly and children, one in ten people in this country grows cocaine, and one in every hundred is a drug dealer.
Several SWAT team members happily left, carrying several large boxes of information. Jack and Hannah led the others in their search, updating their positions in real time. Meanwhile, the NYPD's ESU special forces were already waiting impatiently.
The ESU had originally been on avenging their colleagues, but seeing that the FBI had already secured the initial victory, they naturally grew impatient.
The entire warehouse complex was divided into five zones, from 1 to 5. The FBI assigned the two outer zones and one zone near the inner perimeter to the NYPD.
Zones 4 and 5, the outermost zones, had already begun their incursions. The ESU had discovered a steady stream of drugs, either packaged or disguised as cargo, estimated to weigh nearly half a ton. The team waiting outside Zone 3 was growing impatient, repeatedly requesting permission to proceed.
"Have them guard the entrance until our team completes their search," Jack ordered, scanning the floor plan presented to him by a SWAT officer carrying a tactical tablet.
Zone 3 was less than 15 meters from their area of responsibility, separated by a small warehouse. With two suspects still missing, he didn't want any problems at this critical juncture.
"Keep the comm channel open. Everyone, be vigilant and watch your step. Intelligence suggests the enemy favors IEDs. We have plenty of time. The two who escaped are just minor players. The big fish are already in the net. Prioritize your own safety,"
Jack said worriedly over the squad chat. The two SWAT team members still led the charge, with him and Hannah following behind as they continued to clear each room.
"Safe!"
"Safe!"
Entering the final warehouse and skirting a row of shelves, they were met with a scene that took everyone's breath away. Hannah couldn't help but pull up her night vision goggles, flicking on her tactical flashlight as she scanned the area. She exclaimed, "We've hit the jackpot!"
The others also switched off their night vision goggles and flashlights, scanning the area with smiles on their faces.
Five or six large wooden crates were neatly arranged before them, each filled with brick-sized packages of drugs, tightly wrapped in blue plastic. They had found the workshop where the drugs were being re-diluted and repackaged.
Hannah eagerly pulled out her test kit for on-site testing. These portable, flat-pack drug test kits resembled a whole sheet of pregnancy tests, each with a corresponding test port for a common drug.
Simply dilute the white powder with water and drip it into the test port one by one. The spot where two bars appeared indicated the drug.
"Cocaine, very pure," Hannah's face brightened with dimples, signaling that even if Vargas kept silent, he would never leave federal prison.
Jack estimated that the high-purity semi-finished cocaine before him weighed no less than two tons. Adding the finished product just discovered by the ESU, this would be a rare and significant case, even on a national scale.
But the items on the other table were somewhat unsettling: boxes of explosives and detonators piled like giant boxes of chocolate, each with a large red package labeled "Danger."
"Ah, hold still! We've found C4 and electric detonators here. Jubal, notify the bomb disposal team to prepare," Jack called the operations center directly.
"Everyone else, hold still and prepare to evacuate in an orderly manner. The C4 yield here is enough to send us all flying."
"The planks here have been moved. There might be a hidden passage behind!" A team member's eyes lit up, and he immediately tried to step forward.
"Hey, hold still! Didn't you hear me?" Hannah grabbed his tactical vest and pulled him back.
"Fuck, hold still! There's a trap here!" The team member's action made Jack's heart tremble, and the hairs on his body stood up like a cat with its fur standing on end.
He carefully switched off his tactical flashlight and turned his night vision goggles back on. He saw a dark red infrared laser beam emanating from behind a wooden board leaning against the corner, just in front of the supposed entrance to the secret passage. He couldn't help but feel lucky.
The others also realized something was amiss and switched off their tactical flashlights and turned on their night vision goggles like him. A cold sweat broke out on them, and the reckless team member was even frightened to the point of weakness.
If Hannah hadn't grabbed the guy out of her absolute trust in Jack's orders, everyone here would have been in vain.
"Jack, what do we do next?" Hannah's voice trembled slightly.
"Turn around, we're leaving first." Jack said, and immediately switched to the general channel and shouted, "Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! Everyone, evacuate in an orderly manner. An IED device using an infrared laser tripwire has been found at the scene.
Jubal, two suspects have escaped, and there is a large amount of C4 at the scene. Immediately notify all teams to evacuate! Now! Immediately!"
"Received! Calling for bomb disposal team reinforcements, all teams evacuate, maintain a safe distance, maintain the status quo and wait for more bomb disposal teams to arrive!"
The public channel suddenly became buzzing with responses from various teams. However, one of the responses, with an electric sound, was extremely abrupt, "Retreat, prepare for action!"
Jack had just led Hannah and their group of SWAT team members out of the warehouse area and retreated to an open area. He turned around in surprise after hearing this response, and then heard a loud bang, and a heat wave hit not far away, accompanied by all kinds of messy debris.
(End of this chapter)