Wed, Sep 30, 2015
In America, 14 people die each day waiting for a kidney transplant. Meanwhile, the black market organ trade is thriving, and gangsters with global reach are pocketing easy money. Desperation drives this illegal trade in human spare parts, but the medical community is sounding the alarm, and international law enforcement is in hot pursuit of the traffickers.
Wed, Oct 21, 2015
From card cheats to armed robbers, criminals across America make a beeline for the Casinos of Las Vegas. To defend themselves casinos have become crime-fighting organizations. Criminals react to casino crackdowns with more inventive means of attack. The casinos need to stay on top. At stake is their very survival.
Wed, Oct 14, 2015
In Williston, North Dakota, an oil mining boom has brought tens of thousands of blue-collar workers to this once sleepy town. But the 21st century 'black gold rush' has also attracted black-market operators. Motorcycle gangs extort Williston's bars and strip clubs, while pimps net millions from prostitution. But with the oil boom going bust, criminals must adapt. Laid-off oil workers are becoming this underworld's most resourceful criminals.
Wed, Sep 23, 2015
Increased automobile security means that car criminals are becoming more ingenious than ever. Gangs work together to steal cars. In Santa Maria, California, three cars are stolen every day and police are targeting the thieves rather than recovering vehicles. The criminals, meanwhile, rush to get the cars out of state, and then, overseas. In West Africa, a criminal class has arisen that is willing to pay top dollar for high-end stolen U.S. cars.
Mon, Feb 16, 2015
Fake Pharma is bigger than heroin. It's on the internet, in the pharmacies and on the streets. And the demand is growing. The cops crack down, busting pharma thieves, smugglers and back street pharmacists. The trade is getting ugly. Now the drug you take could be fake and the consequences are deadly.
Wed, Jan 7, 2015
Follow the trail of 'ghost' guns from where they are made-to-order in the Philippines to the US black market where they are bought at swap meets 'no questions asked', to Guatemala - a dumping ground for "burners". A chilling investigation into the world of international criminality, this film has unprecedented access to the underworld of gangsters and drug cartels - whose business and brutality, all depends on the violent, illegal arms trade.
Wed, Jan 21, 2015
Thousands of Central Americans head to the US border, lured by a vision of the Promised Land. At crossing points, networks of 'coyotes' wait to get them across. But once in the traffickers' clutches, the migrants are held to ransom payment. Men who can't pay are sold to work off the debt as laborers; women as prostitutes. The story is told from the inside, in the words of the migrants and from the mouths of the cartel foot soldiers.
Wed, Feb 4, 2015
Anything and everything can be faked: watches, pocket books, shoes, electronics, smart phones. The enterprise and expertise is breath-taking. But the fakes trade comes with real risks. Police crackdowns force the fakers to adapt--moving from the streets to operate out of hotel rooms, using an army of pointers and runners to guide customers to the prouducts. For the US Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security it's a cat and mouse game.
Wed, Oct 7, 2015
Underworld Inc. follows the drug dollars from American trap houses to wholesalers and transporters, funneling billions into Mexico's money laundry. US authorities are closing in on cartel cash. If drug lords want their narco cheddar cleaned and moved into the banking system, they have to get it to Mexico. Working to stem the tide, the cops hit stash houses, and interdiction teams tail cars suspected of smuggling millions. South of the border, launderers use money changers to turn drug profits to pesos for onward investment in front companies and bogus construction projects. If local authorities pry into these shady businesses, they get warned off - cartel style.