Animal Planet's HELL ON THE BORDER Premieres Tonight, 8/19

Caught between a vast desert and a 20-foot tall steel fence, Nogales, Arizona is a small town dead center in the middle of the war on drugs. The enemy is a ruthless Mexican cartel consisting of a highly organized and well-financed army of criminals smuggling narcotics, weapons, cash and humans day and night. The cartel makes billions of dollars in illegal profits. Fortunately, the men of the elite Nogales Police Department K-9 unit are sworn to protect their town and border and will stop at nothing to put an end to this dangerous cartel. Whether raiding drug-stash houses, capturing human traffickers, or busting weapons caches, these officers and their canines put their lives on the line fighting a never-ending battle. It's HELL ON THE BORDER, with a special premiere episode airing tonight, August 19, at 11 PM (ET/PT) following CALL OF THE WILDMAN. HELL ON THE BORDER moves into its regular timeslot on Friday, August 24, at 10 PM (ET/PT) with the six-part series airing every Friday thereafter.

The HELL ON THE BORDER officers and canines in the line of duty include the following:

· Officer Mario Lopez aka "Falcon" and K-9 "Readi"

· With a master's degree in psychology, Lopez is the unit's "brainiac." Born and raised in Nogales, Lopez has been with the Nogales Police Department for nine years. He's always wanted to be a part of the K-9 unit, and just three months ago, his dream came true and has been hard at work learning the ropes.

· Officer Amador Vasquez aka "Gecko" and K-9 "Ilo"

· Although Officer Vasquez may look a little like the famous lizard from the television commercials, don't underestimate his abilities. His expertise is reading suspects, and he has a keen sense for finding the real story behind words and body language. Vasquez was born in Mexico and moved to Nogales when he was 16-years-old. He has been a police officer for seven years and a K-9 officer for one.

· Officer John Zuniga aka "Captain Chaos" and K-9 "Tesko"

· Wherever Zuniga goes, action follows. He is the team's weapons expert and gets an "A+" in aggression. He has been a police officer for 13 years and a K-9 handler for four. He's lived in Nogales for 34 years and will never call any other place home.

· Officer Christian Flores aka "Patron" and K-9 "Thorpe"

· Officer Flores is the boss, but he's a surprisingly mild-mannered guy. Respected for his excellent judgment and calm demeanor in even the most dangerous situations, Flores was born and raised in Nogales and has been a K-9 officer for six years.

· Officer Oscar Mesta II aka "Crash" and K-9 "Ari"

· Mesta is the joker. He's never short of a funny story or a witty line, but he's dead serious when it comes to protecting Nogales. Mesta is a new K-9 officer and before working at Nogales Police Department, he was living in Tucson working as a sheriff's deputy.

HELL ON THE BORDER officers see it all from high-risk drug busts, human trafficking and gunrunners to cash smuggling and a runaway bull downtown. Exploits seen in the all-new series include: a death-defying escape artist, apprehending a gang of possible cartel cash smugglers and the confiscation of bundles of dope worth nearly $100,000.

HELL ON THE BORDER is produced for Animal Planet by Hoff Productions. Michael Hoff is the executive producer for Hoff Productions, and Dawn Sinsel is the executive producer for Animal Planet.

Animal Planet Media (APM), a multi-media business unit of Discovery Communications, is the world's only entertainment brand that immerses viewers in the full range of life in the animal kingdom with rich, deep content via multiple platforms and offers animal lovers and pet owners access to a centralized online, television and mobile community for immersive, engaging, high-quality entertainment, information and enrichment. APM consists of the Animal Planet television network, available in more than 96 million homes in the US; online assets www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things animal; the 24/7 broadband channel, Animal Planet Beyond; Petfinder.com, the #1 pet-related Web property globally that facilitates pet adoption; and other media platforms including a robust Video-on-Demand (VOD) service; mobile content; and merchandising extensions.

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