Greenhouse gas smuggling was as lucrative as cocaine in the '90s. It's back — and the US government is cracking down with 2 new arrests.

• An illegal trade in greenhouse gases is threatening US climate goals.
• Refrigerant smuggling has persisted since the 1990s, when regulations arose to close the ozone hole.
• Unprecedented charges for driving greenhouse gases over the border show the US is cracking down.

Plenty of legitimate business drives the climate crisis — any industry that runs on fossil fuels or cow burps is helping raise our planet's temperature, endangering lives and economies for decades to come. But there's also a blooming black market in greenhouse gases.