Comments by "Matthew Nirenberg" (@matthewnirenberg) on "Correcting Spy Show Myths" video.

Travelling visa-free and being equipped is something that most agencies have sorted ahead of time. Hollywood never shows things in detail and always over-simplifies everything. Without going into detail, in the real world it'd be more like: * Source pre-arranges travel (either legal entry or illegal entry (i.e. sneaking in)) * Travel * Asset goes to in-country safe house to get equipped with documents, money, firearm, phone with contacts, etc. * Does whatever is needed * Returns everything to another safe house * Leaves similarly to how they entered the country Driving without a licence whilst illegal isn't as hard as it seems. Most people don't get licence checked and who's to say they don't have an International Driver Permit? Also, in most countries you only need to carry a National ID card, as long as you're only driving a car or riding a motorbike you usually have 24hrs in which to present your licence at a police station to prove you're licenced. Also the new type National ID cards in the EU have a chip which links it to all your licences so its able to be checked on the spot. How many people who work don't actually have licences? Also, most agencies have people inside the appropriate offices to be able to issue licences as required. As for knowing the area well, its simple. Get a paper map and study the area, remember things by key landmarks and by turns. Names overly complicate the process of memorising regions. Plus I would guarantee they've spent 2 days driving around to get to know the area - yet again Hollywood leaves this out. As has been public knowledge for over 50yrs thanks to books written by former spies and even from the early Bond books by Ian Fleming, the best agents/spies are the ones who have perfectly clean records, from countries with strong passports and who don't attract attention from others (they look ordinary).
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@h9hkk6155 Wrong - swab tests will detect them as they also check for cleaning chemicals. Also modern xray machines can detect and identify the individual parts. Most criminals historically had people who can bypass security checks sneak things in. This is why everyone must go through security checks without any way to bypass said checks.
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@h9hkk6155 you're living in the past. Currently all luggage is x-rayed including checked baggage and yes the modern machines can and do identify restricted and prohibited items, XRF is used to detect residues on bags and even the slightest trace results in manual inspection of the bag (incl swab testing). If you think parts successfully make it through international mail without the proper permits, you're either in the third world or dreaming, every western country scans every letter and parcel sent.
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@h9hkk6155 no i don't live under the assumption that every criminal is caught, I know that the methods you mentioned don't work in the West due to strict security measures. I live in the English speaking world outside of the USA (the West). Just because the USA doesn't check everything doesn't mean other countries don't. The TSA aren't known for being good at their job, the UK, AU, NZ, CAN, IRE border authorities are much more thorough. Your example of stuff like night vision leaving the USA is actually perfectly legal if it goes to an ITAR Tier 2 preferred nation from a tier 1 nation (USA, Canada, UK). Your example of stuff from China, yeah, most countries search all mail from China and will prosecute anyone found to be receiving those items even if incomplete, the same for anyone receiving seeds from China. Criminals will always find a way to do what they want but the known methods are easily stopped if countries actually police what crosses their borders. Whilst a US traveller might take a firearm from the US, they'll get a long jail sentence in any western country if they don't have the right permits. A woman recently tried to enter New Zealand with a firearm from the US without the correct permits, she's now enjoying 20yrs in jail for doing so.
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