Tag Archives: gangs

Britain’s Scariest Debt Collector

Years ago Shaun Smith was an enforcer for one of the biggest crime families in Liverpool and embroiled in a war against a rival drug gang.

Shaun introduced urban terrorism to the British underworld. He sprayed up houses with machine guns, tortured people and used homemade napalm to firebomb his enemies.

Today, after a spell of five years in prison for firearms offenses, he is trying to transfer those skills to the legal economy by working as a debt collector in the northern English satellite town of Warrington.

The World’s Weirdest Drug Market

New Zealand is a long way from anywhere, and drug cartels have traditionally not bothered sending them much cocaine or heroin. So, Kiwis have had to improvise – and they discovered a love for meth, and random new chemicals no one’s ever heard of.

This was all getting very dangerous, with rising addiction and biker gangs fighting over territory. Then one man – a steam-punk glam-rock musician named Starboy – decided to try and end New Zealand’s drug war once and for all. And he almost managed it!

Gun Shot Wound

Gun Shot Wound takes a hard look at routine gun violence in America through the eyes of its trauma surgeons. The film examines the crisis through a public health lens and highlights hospital-based violence intervention programs designed to combat the epidemic.

Every day in the United States, an average of 318 people are shot—about 116,000 victims each year. Most aren’t involved in mass shootings; instead they’re caught in the web of routine, almost invisible, gun violence. More than 35,000 of these victims will die from their wounds.

Dr. Amy Goldberg leads the team that treats more than 500 gunshot victims each year. In 2019, someone was shot every 6 1⁄2 hours in Phildelphia, where she works. We follow Dr. Goldberg on a busy Friday evening in the trauma centre. In the space of 12 hours, she’ll treat three gunshot victims and perform emergency life-saving surgery on one of them. And since 80% of gunshot victims survive in Philadelphia, Gun Shot Wound gives an authentic look at the daunting process of rehab and often permanent disability. Meanwhile, Dr Joseph Sakran shares his day-to-day experience treating gunshot victims in Baltimore and introduces viewers to Brandon Fisher. Brandon arrived at the trauma bay nearly dead with 13 bullet wounds and injuries in almost every cavity in his body. It took a multi-disciplinary team of surgeons and more than 15 surgeries for Brandon to recover.

Gun Shot Wound shows what really happens when someone gets shot and highlights how physicians and hospitals are not just treating patients, but going above and beyond to prevent gun violence.

Marseille: Europe´s Deadliest City

In Marseille, gangs fighting for territory have become more violent; setting on fire their rivals, kidnapping, torturing and killing young people to send messages to rival gangs. Most of these crimes have been happening in the Quartiers Nord, an area that according to the families of the victims, has been neglected by the state which allowed crime to proliferate.

Gang Initiation: Joining the Silent Murder Crips

For JT, a young prospect making his way into a local branch of the Crips in Brooklyn, joining the gang is about family: Getting close to a group of men that care about him, and are willing to back him up if he ever finds himself in trouble.

Inside the Deadliest City in Honduras

Burying the dead in Honduras’ deadliest city can be a competitive business. In San Pedro Sula, Edgardo Simon runs a funeral service that works around the clock. The violence never stops.

Escaping Brazil’s Deadliest Gangs

In the middle of the most violent regional capital in Brazil, a brutal gang war is being fought over control of the drug supply routes of the Northwestern Amazon region. Poverty and coercion force many young men into a life of crime where the only ways to escape are incarceration or death.

But amidst the carnage, there is a glimmer of hope – the “91” is a group of former gang lords turned pastors, who offer salvation to gang members who want to leave the criminal life. Their standing in the gang community, forged out of years of service and hard-fought respect, mean that only they can vouch for criminals looking to trade crime for the path of God.

‘Abo’ Henry: Australia’s Most Notorious Gangster

For almost 30 years notorious gangster Graham ‘Abo’ Henry and his partner Neddy Smith ruled the mean streets of Sydney, Australia’s crime capital, with iron fists. They went head-to-head with other gangs, crooked cops, unsuspecting civilians, and finally each other, all with the endorsement of Australia’s most infamous bent cop, Roger Rogerson.

With violence, bloodshed and fear as his tools of trade, Abo Henry carved a swathe through the criminal underworld, raking in millions, and living by his own code of honor; one of looking after your mates, and never, ever rolling on them. His criminal career came to an end on what is known as Sydney’s deadliest pub crawl, which culminated in Henry stabbing police prosecutor Mal Spence in the stomach and the neck.

Inside Taiwan’s Triad Mafia

The Bamboo Union is the largest of Taiwan’s three main criminal triads, a gang estimated to have about 10,000 members who deal in illegal gambling, drug trafficking, and beyond. It’s a powerful and, at times, brutal organization—if one of its members betrays the gang, it can cost them a limb.

Reportage (series)

Blood Tusks

A hundred elephants die every day in Africa killed by poachers, members of the militia or of terrorist organizations like Al Shabab. Their tusks sell for €600 per kilo, and an emerging middle class in China demands ivory as symbol of their new wealth status and International criminal gangs are there to cater to them. The tusks of these poor animals are pulled out while they´re still alive because they´re more valuable that way, and most of those apprehended do not even face a fine. Experts from the UN, ecologist organizations and Interpol warn that Elephants face extinction. In this episode we investigate this brutal industry meeting with every link in the chain from the poachers and sellers to the environmentalist and law enforcement.

War Lords

Somalia has the perfect ecosystem for endless war: European mercenaries, pirates, Al Qaeda jihadists, weapon smugglers, drought and hunger. We enter an absurd, anarchic reality where warlords will switch allegiances to gain security and stability, again to make profit and perhaps again for religious conviction. We meet with one of ‘good’ warlords whose troop of mercenaries are working for the local government for now. His militia was the only one that could win the Islamists from Al Shabab, but in Somalia, loyalty is with the clan and not with the State. We venture into one of the refugee camps for the internally displaced, the result of an exodus that has displaced almost two million Somalis. With the highest child mortality rate in the world – Islamists prohibited vaccinations as they considered them part of a Western conspiracy – to add to their troubles, alongside war, hunger, disease and the threat of kidnap – Somalia can be considered the most dangerous country in the world.

Honduras: The Mara´s Life   

Nineteen people are murdered every day in Honduras, the most violent country without a war in the world. Sistiaga experiences the daily horror of life on the streets in the cities of Honduras. Within three days of arriving he has already witnessed 12 murders: taxi drivers, engineers, drug dealers, gangsters. Killing is not the means but the goal itself, and brutality prevails – beheadings and dismemberment no longer make headlines. Young gangsters will kill each other for a corner to sell their drugs. The Maras control whole neighbourhoods in Honduras, drug dealers impose their law and the police are infiltrated and corrupted.

Holy Land

Half a million Israeli settlers live within the Palestinian territories forming the main barrier to a two-state solution. They do not see themselves as colonists or invaders, but rather pioneers. Some see themselves as the vanguard that will welcome the arrival of the Messiahs to the lands of Abraham, and others consider themselves a barrier against Islamic extremism. Many however, live in the colonies because the houses are cheaper. Living at the ground zero of our ages defining conflict however takes its toll as we see both sides locked in every day conflict and mutual mistrust that permeates every waking minute, and is the prism through which their identity is defined. We travel to this committed and obstinate world, a community suspicious of foreigners and the International press, and that welcomes isolation. They are convinced that anti Semitism govern the world, and that this land was promised to them. We travel to the Holy Land.

No Country for Women

It’s one of the biggest economies in the world and one of the most powerful members of the G-20 club. But India is not a country for women. Every hour a woman is killed. Mothers will abort when they know the gender of the baby, and many women in India will suffer every kind of humiliation and violence. Some will be sold as sex slaves before they are 12 years old, others will be force to marry as soon as they have their first period. More will suffer beatings or will be raped by gangs without consequence, or burnt with acid by their own husbands following brutal cultural traditions. We travel to the most savage and archaic India. The one you can´t find on the touristic guides or at G-20 meetings.

Hunting Homosexuals

Uganda is a Paradise for European tourists, one of the most Christian countries in Africa and the most homophobic country on the continent. The Parliament debates the Anti Homosexuality Law, also known as the ‘Killing Gay Law’. ‘They are very dangerous, they can finish Humanity’ This is how reverend Simon Lokodo – Minister of Ethics and Integrity – speaks about gays in a deeply Christian country, one of 80 countries in the world where being homosexual is a crime. They contemplate the death penalty for what they call ‘grave homosexuality’ or life sentence for the couples that dare to get married. There have been already assassinations of activists, beatings, intimidation and persecution. This episode uncovers the messianic arguments of the leaders that spread hate, and we give voice to the few gay activists that dare to face them.

Riding the Beast

The Beast is the train running through Mexico that everyday carries Central American migrants who dream of a better life in the United States. The reality is that on this most dangerous of journeys, the threat of kidnap, rape, violence and murder is constant as carrying their worldly belongings makes them an obvious target for gangs. Catastrophic accidents causing amputation and death are commonplace giving ‘the beast’ a second nickname, the ‘migrant mincer’. 20,000 people a year are kidnapped, a further 5,000 ‘missing’ and the route is strewn with shallow graves. In this episode we ride ‘the beast’ and experience the hardships of those who risk everything on its back. We meet with migrants searching for a better life, victims of its brutality and the support industry of kitchens, guides and markets that have grown alongside this arduous track.

Albino: A Story of Fear and Prejudice

In Tanzania, albino´s are feared and hated as many believe they are cursed and bring bad luck. As a result of these terrible superstitions they have become victims of mutilation and murder. To be born as an albino in certain places in Africa continues to be the worst sentence. Black magic rituals use their organs and witch doctors will pay high fees for their limbs. In this episode we meet with the victims of this heartbreaking reality and those who are trying to end these barbaric traditions.

Walking on Bombs

Afghanistan is full of landmines, which emerged as the most lethal weapon used against North American military forces and their allies. We travel to the south of the country – the most dangerous zone – to enter the world of bomb disposal officers; men and women that walk on bombs. None of them match the stereotype seen in The Hurt Locker and none of them are adrenalin junkies.  In their own words, this is the quickest way of getting killed in Afghanistan. War is over but the bombs remain. Every day, at least one Afghan is killed or mutilated.

How to Organise a Genocide

Rwanda is a country full of murderers, a fact evidenced by the million people who were killed with machetes over 3 months during the Rwandan genocide. We return twenty years on when many of the killers are starting to be released from prison and return to their homes and villages, and live amongst their victims; those who survived the slaughter hiding in swamps. We meet with both the victims and the perpetrators of a genocide, living side by side, which has not been forgotten..

At Hell´s Gate

In this episode we visit Kawah Ijen´s active volcano in Indonesia to investigate the labour conditions that miners bear everyday in extracting its sulphur. In the mouth of the volcano labourers carry upon their backs over 70 kilos of sulphur blocks, double their own weight. We follow the trail of these men –  suffering the worlds worse working conditions – in to ‘the gates of hell’. A strong smell of rotten eggs impregnate everything, the eyes gets irritated, the sulphur makes breathing difficult, the throat burns… This is one of the most toxic places on earth. Few make it past fifty years of age and their bodies are deformed form the heavy loads, for which they are paid €0.01 a kilo or at most €3 a day.                

The Gangs That Steal Dogs

Since the lockdown puppy phenomenon pushed up the price of dogs by up to 450% in the UK, a huge increase in dog thefts and importations has followed.

With access to the minds behind the crimes and the people on the frontline trying to prevent them, we discover why illegal puppy farms have become one of the fastest growing illicit markets in Europe.

We gained access to a gang who explained how they grab dogs in parks and from people’s houses. Plus, we secured an interview with an illicit dog importation organisation who bring dogs into the UK from Eastern European puppy farms. They implant fake microchips before selling them on.

Finally, we learned about the fight back, meeting a victim who managed to steal her dog back and a pet detective who takes on these cases as her day job.

Pirates of the Danube

In Serbia, we explore how pirates, mostly through deals made with international boat crews, illegally load off oil, ores or fertilizers that they later sell on black market. Such activities are often followed with great risks and violence between rival gangs is quite common.

The Danube flow through Serbia is 600 kilometers long and a lot of international transport goes along the river. Serbia has been blacklisted by a number of international companies because of illegal river trade or, more commonly said, piracy.