Ep 3. Denial

In Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders season 1 episode 3, titled "Denial," the International Response Team (IRT) is called to investigate the case of a missing American woman who was last seen in Belize. The team arrives in the small Central American country to discover that the local police have already found the woman's body, which has been badly mutilated.

From the outset, the IRT is met with resistance from the chief of police in Belize, who is convinced that the local crime syndicate is not responsible for the woman's death. Instead, he believes that the woman was killed by a group of American tourists who were in the area at the time of her disappearance.

The IRT immediately becomes suspicious of the chief of police and initiates their own investigation. They discover that the chief has a close relationship with the local crime syndicate and has been taking bribes from them for years. Complicating matters further, the chief's son is one of the American tourists who was in the area at the time of the murder.

As the investigation unfolds, the IRT uncovers a web of corruption and complicity that extends far beyond the small town in Belize. They discover that the woman who was murdered was targeted specifically because of her connection to an American pharmaceutical company that was attempting to develop a new drug using a rare local plant. The crime syndicate saw this as an opportunity to blackmail the company and the chief of police was all too happy to help.

As the IRT continues to dig deeper, they find themselves in increasingly dangerous situations. They are nearly killed by members of the crime syndicate and are constantly under surveillance by the police. At one point, they are forced to go on the run and must rely on a local taxi driver to help them escape.

Despite the dangers, the IRT remains determined to bring the criminals to justice and refuses to give up. In the end, they are able to untangle the complex web of lies and corruption and bring the murderers to justice. However, they are left to wonder how many other cases like this exist around the world and how many innocent lives have been lost as a result.

Overall, "Denial" is a tense and thrilling episode of Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders. It balances the action and suspense of a crime drama with the emotional depth and intelligence of a well-written drama. The episode raises important questions about the intersection of crime, corruption, and politics in today's world and is sure to leave viewers thinking long after the credits have rolled.