The scene in which Michael Douglas takes his trip to the California border crossing to discuss drug interdiction was actually shot at the Tijuana crossing. The video and sound quality are so low in part because it wasn't intended to be part of the movie. Douglas, out of character, started asking Rudy M. Camacho about drug trafficking on the border. At the time, Camacho was the real-life Customs chief in charge of the California border crossings. Steven Soderbergh began filming it with a hand-held camera, praying that Camacho wouldn't address the actor as "Mr. Douglas".
When a critic commented that it seemed unrealistic that the daughter's high school record was almost perfect when she was taking drugs, screenwriter Stephen Gaghan pointed out that the high school record in the movie was his and that he had been abusing drugs at the time.
After filming one day, actor James Brolin returned to his car to find two youths attempting to break in. Still in his general's uniform, he frightened away the would-be thieves, who mistook him for a real military officer.
Catherine Zeta-Jones was pregnant during filming, and the role was adjusted to suit her condition. Originally, her character was already a mother of two instead of six months pregnant.
Michael Douglas originally declined the role of Robert Wakefield, and it was offered to Harrison Ford, who accepted. Ford worked with director Steven Soderbergh to improve the character, but then decided not to do the movie. Douglas liked the change in the character so much, he accepted the revamped part.
Steven Soderbergh: [company named "Perennial"] The company where Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) and Ray Castro (Luis Guzmán) go to apprehend Eduardo Ruiz (Miguel Ferrer) is called Perennial Storage. Also see The Limey (1999), Out of Sight (1998) and The Underneath (1995).