Looks like the Mexican Raptor came up empty-taloned below… and squawks his disappointment…
I’m guessing that Joe knows the “Shady Areas of Santa Poco” all to well… That sounds like a new fall series on NBC… harkening back to the town that the Three Amigos saved…
The Daily Trail 
New hypothesis: Joe is part of an underground sting operation to catch antiquities smugglers. He is the team leader, taking the role of a bit player to avoid undue attention. Kind of a Mission Impossible idea (that is, the original 1960s version).
OOPS: “undercover”, not “underground”.