One box in a thousand is hiding a lie. Can you find it?

It's 2 a.m. at the world's busiest seaport. Five stories of steel boxes rise into the dark — and somewhere in that stack, one container is telling a lie. Meet the hidden team whose whole job is to catch it: X-ray trucks that see through steel, a computer that never sleeps, dogs whose noses beat any machine, and scientists who can read the secret "fingerprint" hidden inside a cotton shirt.

From counterfeit brake pads to a beetle in a pallet, from a pangolin in a crate to a stolen Jaguar that took forty-six years to come home, this is the true, secret world of customs — and the real-life detectives who keep the whole planet's stuff moving, safe and honest. And because this book plays fair, it also shows you the mornings the system gets it wrong — and exactly what an honest company can do about it.

Crack it open and discover:

•How to read an X-ray by its colors
•Why a dog's quiet sit can stop a whole shipment
•How a shirt's atoms tell on a lying label
•The one tool that checks every single box (it isn't the expensive one)
•Your turn in the hot seat: a refrigerated container, a suspicious gap in its records, and a clock that punishes every choice

Illustrated narrative nonfiction for curious readers · Ages 10–13. Every true case sourced. Includes a glossary, a "Test Your Knowledge" quiz, source notes, and an index.