'Contraband: Seized at the Border' Airs Smelly Car Episode, and Fans Are Not Happy

Contraband: Seized at the Border released a trailer ahead of the Season 8 premiere on Jan. 19, 2026, and the clip teased fans after border agents discovered a smelly car at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Discovery show clip was shared on YouTube with an enticing caption, which also drew viewers in.

"At the McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge, a suspicious black car coming from Mexico is stopped, and investigators are STUNNED by a rancid scent... #Contraband: Seized at the Border Mondays at 8P on Discovery," read the caption.

All the hoopla had fans of the show tuning in to find out what the funky smell was that the border agents were whiffing, and the answer has folks annoyed.

During the episode that aired on Jan. 19, a black sedan is stopped at the McAllen–Hidalgo International Bridge, which is a road bridge crossing the Rio Grande between Hidalgo, Texas, and the state of Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico. One agent warned another who was about to inspect the vehicle that it smelled bad.

"Be careful because the inside of the car stinks," said the border agent, prompting the other agent to ask what the smell smelled like.

"Like, like what? Like, Drugs? Or...?"

The agent's response was, "No. I wish it were drugs. It smells like a--."

One of the agents questioned the vehicle's occupants and asked what they were doing in Mexico, and the occupants, a teenage couple, said they were visiting relatives. The agent was suspicious that the duo was a couple because the boy looked at the girl for approval before answering, which the agent found suspicious.

He ordered the couple out of the car as he prepared to search the car.

"This car smells. Oh my Goooood," said the agent. "Smells like rotten eggs. Smells like something died in that car." The stench was reportedly so strong that another officer assisted in searching the car, and both agents wore masks. "This is probably one of the stinkiest cars I've ever been inside," said the agent, also adding that the car smelled like rotten eggs.

"Honestly, it smells like a public bathroom," he added. "And these smells, it's not something normal."

The agent then questioned the couple about the smell, but they claimed there was no smell. The agents could not locate the smell, so they brought in a canine, who homed in on the car's dashboard. However, after the agents did an X-ray on the car's dashboard, they found there was nothing there, and the source of the smell was never uncovered.

Fans were irritated by the letdown and left comments under the clip.

"I literally flew to YouTube to see if they found the smell...and I was so disappointed," wrote one, which prompted several more to reply, "Same."

The agent indicated that he believes the car was a test run to see how cars are searched for contraband.

Contraband: Seized at the Border airs on Mondays on the Discovery Channel.