When Tiger Cam became a phenomenon it made each of them household name … Very little attention is giving to the status of tigers today. Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller s1e7: Tigers
There was another story I was missing: what was being smuggled south. They call it the Iron River. Day and night American guns are flowing across the border into the hands of Mexican gangsters fuelling an arms race between the cartels and terrorising innocent civilians caught in the crossfire. Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller s1e8: Guns
Fentanyl: This is the most dangerous drug in America … I had done my research and I knew that people who work in these labs die very often. Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller s1e9: Shining a Light
Where journalism should truly lie is in shining a light in worlds we know little about. ibid.
I’ve seen plenty of violence in my career but a professional hit like this caught my attention. The killing was allegedly part of an ongoing turf war but not between rival street gangs or Mafia crime families: these men were from rival motorcycle clubs. These clubs are a contradiction on two wheels. Proudly and loudly public on American roads. And yet notoriously secret about what membership truly entails. What’s motivating the violence? Who’s calling the shots? What does it really mean to be in the 1%? Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller s2e1: Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs, National Geographic 2021
I’ve reported on black market surgeries overseas but now a series of suspicious deaths have led me home to America where young women are checking in for plastic surgery and never checking out. Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller s2e2: Black Market Surgery
Celebrities and influencers with the kind of curves that are inspiring a generation of young women to buy the look with cosmetic surgery. ibid.
In this community, pumpers are underworld figures who carry status, cash and guns. ibid.
California is the epicentre of a massive social experiment – legalised marijuana … No-one could have predicted that legalisation would have the opposite effect, energizing the elicit trade that’s now three times larger than the legal one. Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller s2e3, Black Market Marijuana
Underground shops: many of them wanted to go legal but the path to licensing is fraught with problems. ibid.
It’s being called a new wave of Crystal Meth, a generation after a US government crackdown on labs and ingredients … Meth is back with a vengeance. Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller s2e4: Meth
Since the first model Ts began rolling off the assembly line Americans have fallen deeply in love with cars … On average every 36 seconds a car is stolen in the United States. It’s big money. Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller s2e5
I was like a fish. That hook was so far down my belly.’ Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller s2e6: Romance Scams, victim
Romance scamming: a global crimewave that surged during our loneliest moments of the pandemic. ibid.
I’ve heard tales of a new breed of narco-trafficker – women. Rumour has it these brash cocaine-queens are helping revolutionise the multi-billion-dollar drug business. Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller s2e7: Cocaine Queens
Cops still assume that cocaine traffickers look like Pablo Escobar, not like Hello Kitty. ibid.
These shoot-outs with law enforcement have become all too often. ibid.
Cocaine has transformed Brazil’s black market and its players. ibid.
For five decades Colombia has been the world’ biggest cocaine producer. ibid.
The Amazon rainforest is at a tipping point. And criminal networks are pushing it closer to the edge … Illegal logging is a major factor in deforestation, gold-mining is equally malicious. Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller s2e8: Amazon Mafia
A black market worth more than $20 billion. With little risk of getting caught. I’m told it’s like robbing a bank in the middle of the ocean. Somewhere out there in the darkness is the most prolific wildlife poachers on the planet. Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller s2e9: Fish Pirates
Al Jazeera’s Investigations Unit infiltrates the rival gangs that control Africa’s gold. Gold Mafia I: The Laundry Service, Al Jazeera 2023
Organised crime groups use gold to launder money. ibid.
Zimbabwe’s gold exports are worth up to $2 billion a year. It’s a cash business. ibid.
Macmillan and his rival gold dealer Pattni work for the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the country’s central bank. ibid.
The gold is delivered to a company owned by Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank. In return for their services Pattni and Macmillan are given licences to sell the gold abroad. The competing Mafia fly the gold to Dubai and sell it there. They bring the proceeds bank to Zimbabwe in US dollars cash. ibid.
‘The Gold Mafia is bigger than the government, bigger than the authorities.’ Gold Mafia II: Smoke & Mirrors
A money launderer corrupts Africa’s banks. ibid.
The Diplomatic Mafia has already offered Mr Stanley a laundry service. Henrietta Rushwaya (Zimbabwe Miners Federation) plays a central role in the money laundering plan. She is related to the president (niece). ibid.
Simon Radland runs his own Mafia from money earned through his cigarette company. ibid.
‘The biggest challenge Zimbabwe now faces is the Gold Mafia.’ Gold Mafia III: El Dorado
A Gold Mafia in Dubai helps the team launder money. ibid.
Ambassador Uebert Angel, Diplomatic Mafia, he’s also a self-proclaimed prophet. ibid.
Rikki Doolan, Diplomatic Mafia, is from the north-east of England; he’s rated to Ambassador Angel through marriage; he’s known as Pastor Rikki. ibid.
Aleck Yasini is part of a network of private couriers who smuggle cash and gold in and out of Dubai. ibid.
Alistair Mathias, gold trader, he’s a financial architect for corrupt politicians. ibid.
‘When you work you must always have the king with you, the president.’ Gold Mafia IV: Have the King With You, Pattni
Mohamed Khan, one of South Africa’s most successful money launderers. He’s also known as Mo Dollars. ibid.
Scott Sakupwanya, pro-Mnangagwa activist, the new Mr Gold. ibid.
Europe is battling a cocaine crisis. And one port in Belgium is on the front line. Antwerp is now the main gateway to the continent. Customs are intercepting record amounts. Cocaine: Flooding Europe, BBC short 2023
‘He was not the traditional Mexican cartel leader. He was an American citizen.’ Drug Lords: The Takedown s1e6: Edgar Valdez-Villareal
‘He started trafficking small amounts of forty/fifty pounds of marijuana from Mexico into the US.’ ibid.
But La Barbie’s hometown is the perfect spot for an ambitious young drug trafficker. ibid. caption
‘The next morning a full country SWAT team hit the house. We arrested 4 cell members working for the cartel, we seized 120 kilos of cocaine, and $1.5 million.’ ibid. agent
La Barbie is the first to release torture and execution videos to the press. It becomes a regular tactic in the Mexican cartel wars. ibid. caption
But the US authorities still won’t give La Barbie the deal he craves. ibid.
By 2010, Mexico’s drug wars have claimed 28,000 lives in just 4 years. ibid.
Authorities track La Barbie to a ranch 20 miles west of Mexico City. ibid.
During the 1980s Colombia drug cartels expand into three main criminal conglomerates … Within the Cali Cartel a young star is rising: Juan Calos Ramirez Abadia, known as Chupeta. Drug Lords: The Takedown s1e7: Cocaine CEO, National Geographic 2023
‘Chupeta was very organised but very strict.’ ibid. cash-runner
Meanwhile Cali Cartel cocaine continues to pour into the USA. ibid.
‘It made Chupeta [Colombia] and El Chapo [Mexico] two of most powerful narco-traffickers in the entire world. ibid.
‘He became the first narco-trafficker to use narco-submarines.’ ibid. agent