Banged Up Abroad - Episode Guide

Californian Tom Hanway takes the hippie trail to South America where cocaine is cheap and available. He plans to take 500 hits of LSD with him and trade it for a kilo of coke which he'll bring back to the States.

Jim Miles and Paul Loseby, two British teenagers, are arrested in Venezuela for trying to smuggle drugs back to the UK.

Piers Hernu, a dual British-French traveler, is arrested trying to smuggle 28 kilos of gold bullion from Hong Kong to Nepal.

Glen Heggstad, an American adventurer, is kidnapped by the Colombian National Liberation Army.

Scott Campbell and Lucy Baker are British travellers who were arrested in Mexico trying to sneak cocaine from Costa Rica into Amsterdam.

Mark Knowles is arrested in Sydney after attempting to smuggle cocaine from the U.S. to Australia.

Two Britons, Donald MacNeil and Denis Wale were arrested off the island of Margarita, Venezuela after being pressured to collect an enormous shipment of cocaine worth £30 million.

Sandra Gregory is arrested in Thailand trying to smuggle heroin into Japan.

Witness the terrifying story of a tourist group's kidnapping by Hutu rebels in Uganda.

Jon and Camilla move from England to contribute to a children's centre in war torn Chechnya... only to be kidnapped for ransom.

Explores the events leading up to the Kidnapping of Travellers Rhys Partridge and Bella Muss and the incredible story of their struggle to survive and escape from every travellers worst nightmare.

Gracia and Martin Burnham, Christian missionaries in the Philippines, are kidnapped by members of Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim fundamentalist group.

Witness the terrifying ordeal of vacationers brutally kidnapped by a Muslim militant group.

After being arrested for selling drugs, Scott White made a daring escape during the Iraqi invasion.

When Russell Thoresen smuggled drugs for love, he ended up alone, in a three-year nightmare.

After a teenager is found with 7 pounds of heroin, she faces 30 years in a Bangladesh prison.

While on assignment, a British journalist is charged with spying and imprisoned in Pakistan.

The story of Sarah Jackson, who agreed to become a drugs courier to pay off a £3,000 debt, convinces her friend Simon Burke to go to Peru with her in order to serve as her unwitting drug-smuggling accomplice.

Held at gunpoint by Taiwan's most wanted criminal, the Alexander family endured a grueling 26 hours.

Follow the harrowing story of a drug run gone bad when a fellow mule makes a deal with prosecutors.

National Geographic follows the story of a man lured into the South Korean drug industry.

David Evans is arrested trying to smuggle drugs from Venezuela to Amsterdam.

Greg Williams is a volunteer who worked for the church, until he in 1996 got kidnapped by a terrorist group who have connections with Al-Qaeda.

Jake Libbon gets arrested in Mexico for selling marijuana, then is falsely accused of shooting two police officers.

In 1993, Hollywood "party animal" Brendan Cosso and three friends are arrested trying to smuggle cocaine out of Brazil.

A random encounter with a family friend at the Bali airport was all it took to land Chris Parnell in jail and arrested on charges of smuggling 12 kilos of hashish.

Grew up in the ghetto of El Paso Texas. Son to a single mother who didn't care he wasn't going anywhere. A small job at an auto shop got him involved in smuggling drugs from Mexico. Which eventually took a turn for the worst.

When Kahlilah met big-shot music producer Roy, she didn't expect that her life would change forever. Just months into their relationship, Roy forced her to smuggle 18 pounds of cocaine.

Two journalists are captured by insurgents after entering a northern Iraqi town to report on an impending battle.

A struggling single mother, offered a way out of her financial troubles by smuggling drugs, is arrested at the airport only to find herself pregnant and now in prison for five years.

An unsuspecting woman, Zoe McGarry, is given a suitcase full of cocaine and is arrested when attempting to board a plane with it.

During a U.N. peace mission, a minor incident sparks nationwide fighting, leading Major Phil Ashby to flee his disarmament camp and chance survival in a daring escape through the jungle.

T.K. White and her girlfriend are sent to Kingston's notorious central prison after attempting to smuggle marijuana.

Clare Matthews quits her job and travels to India. But when money gets tight, she gambles for a quick payout: sending hash illegally to London via parcel. It works the first time, even the second. But the third time, her luck runs out and she ends up in one of the world's largest jails.

In intimate detail, Locked Up Abroad reveals Billy Hayes' real-life experience behind the Oscar-winning 1978 film, "Midnight Express".

Follow the story of oil field contractors in Iraq that found themselves in a two-month-nightmare after attempting to flee the country on the heels of impending war.

Witness the grueling sentence Jackie Nichols faces after attempting to smuggle hashish in Japan.

An English teacher in Bangkok is sentenced to life in prison after attempting to smuggle heroin for a $10,000 pay-out.

A music-loving hippie agrees to smuggle cocaine from Ecuador to Europe to earn some extra money for a baby on the way.

A jungle adventure turns sour when American backpacker Mark Wedeven and his travel companions are taken hostage by armed guerilla soldiers in Panama.

Scottish chef Gordon Malloch arrives in Saudi Arabia to start a new life as a catering manager, but quickly finds himself a profitable sideline as a bootlegger.

Henry Hill--who inspired the movie Goodfellas--relays the true story of his rise and fall as a drug dealing wiseguy in the New York mob.

An internet romance sparks a tragic turn of events ending with a 14 year prison sentence.

Jeremy Khinoo pushes his luck when he tries to buy illegal prescription drugs with fake cash in Mexico.

A fantasy vacation turns into a seven-year nightmare when Brigene Young is busted for smuggling drugs hidden in her shoes.

A former soldier must rely on his combat training to survive a violent Spanish prison after being convicted of smuggling 500 kilos of hashish.

Stephen Sutton agrees to transport gold from Argentina to Australia in exchange for $15,000, but he's tricked into carrying cocaine and gets caught.

Addicted to cocaine, unable to keep a job and desperate for money, Robert Pringle agrees to smuggle cocaine out of Peru. When Robert has second thoughts and tries to back out of the deal, drug dealers threaten him and his family.

An obese teenager is so desperate to get gastric bypass surgery that she agrees to smuggle drugs out of Colombia in exchange for $20,000.

Faced with an impending manslaughter trial, a military veteran travels to Thailand for a quick getaway. While there, she learns her travel companion is planning on smuggling heroin back to the U.S., and she agrees to help her out.

When young actor Erik Audé discovers that he was tricked into smuggling opium out of Pakistan, he has to fight to clear his name and stay alive

Mark Greening has the easy life as a magician in Bali... until he finds out he's going to be a dad.

Scott Campbell goes travelling in China with his estranged father, only to find out that his dad is a professional smuggler carrying 20 kilos of cannabis.

Duane Wollum has two kilos of cocaine strapped to his body but the police think it's a bomb.

When a strictly orthodox Jewish grocer becomes a cocaine smuggler, his traditional appearance makes him invisible to customs officers, until his decision to become 'the Jewish Pablo Escobar' leads to a stretch in a violent Brazilian prison.

When Susan's Haglof's adoption goes wrong, she ends up in an Egyptian jail, facing a charge of human trafficking.

Californian Tom Hanway takes the hippie trail to South America where cocaine is cheap and available. He plans to take 500 hits of LSD with him and trade it for a kilo of coke which he'll bring back to the States.

Two young British backpackers searching for orchids and adventure are kidnapped as they try to cross from Panama to Colombia via the notoriously dangerous Darien Gap.

After meeting a local drug dealer, down on his luck Irish plumber Paul agrees to smuggle six kilos of cocaine from Venezuela back to Dublin for a payment of 10,000 pounds. However when Paul is caught at the airport in Caracas it turns into the worst decision of his life.

Australian photographer Nigel Brennan and a Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout are taken hostage in war torn Somalia by Islamic gunmen and held captive for 462 days.

Angela Carnegie suspects her relationship is ending when her lover walks out on her one morning. She decides to start over by smuggling drugs from Bangkok, but the job is a bust when airport officials find bricks of heroin in the lining of her bag.

It's 1976 in Cold War Moscow, and American Jerry finds himself in the worst situation possible: busted for smuggling drugs from Kuala Lumpur to Russia.

The harrowing story of American POWs Ernie Brace and John McCain during their Vietnam war imprisonment. As the longest held POW in Vietnam history, Ernie Brace likely endured more than any other POW during the war. Held for almost eight years, he faced capture, starvation, sickness, torture, solitude and desperation. After three-and-a-half years, Brace was transported from the jungle to the infamous prison in Vietnam dubbed the "Hanoi Hilton," and finally heard the voice of another American in the adjoining cell: Lt. Cmdr. John McCain, a Navy pilot shot down over...

Shaun Attwood left England to be a stockbroker in America. He soon finds himself dealing ecstasy and living the high life. When he angers a mafia boss, he retreats to being a stockbroker, but it proves to be too little too late.

Tom Crutchfield, a salesman living in Fort Myers, Fla., successfully smuggled crocodiles, snakes, tarantulas and king cobras around the world. When Belize officials deport him back to the U.S., federal marshals are waiting.

For Roy Hallums, a routine trip to the office turned into the ultimate fight for his life. In 2004, the 20-year Navy veteran was working in Iraq when he was suddenly kidnapped. His Iraqi captors sealed him in an underground room, just barely keeping him alive while demanding a $12 million ransom. Locked Up Abroad goes inside his harrowing story of how he survived.

Learn the real story behind the Academy Award-winning movie "Argo" from the people who actually inspired the film. Locked Up Abroad sits down with Antonio Mendez -- the former CIA officer portrayed in the movie by Ben Affleck -- along with former hostages Mark Lijek and Cora Amburn-Lijek. Combining archival news footage with their first-person accounts, see how the CIA rescued six American diplomats from Tehran, Iran, by having them pose as a movie crew.

In the summer of 1972, five young Americans are caught trying to smuggle more than 2,000 pounds of marijuana out of Mexico. While awaiting trial, they are sent to Mazatlan Prison and desperately begin planning their escape. For six weeks, the group tunnels through a concrete wall using a butter knife and some rocks, only to find that they're sitting on top of water that won't stop gushing through the dirt floor. Will these detainees be able to escape one of Mexico's most violent prisons?

Eddie Padilla is living the high life in Maui, surfing, partying and drug smuggling to support his cocaine addiction. But a run-in with the Peruvian police on a smuggling trip lands him and two friends in a prison called The House of the Devil. The guards say they expect them to try to escape, but if they don't make it they are killed. Even so, they decide to do whatever it takes to get out. Eddie shares his story of being Locked Up Abroad and the terrifying events that led to his freedom.

It's 1979 and Chicago mobster Frank Cullotta heads to Las Vegas for more opportunity. His Hole in the Wall gang becomes notorious for their high-stakes robberies. Eventually, his thievery comes to an end when the FBI catches up with him. They want him to testify against his mob. While not exactly locked up abroad, he enters the witness protection program. Now speaking out, Frank shares secrets from his life in the mob and spills on the jewelry burglary that got him locked up sort of.

Locked Up Abroad comes home to the United States to visit 19-year-old street racer Rick Cedar in Spokane, Washington. When he finds out his girlfriend is pregnant, he's overwhelmed. Short on cash, Rick decides to use his knowledge of cars to scam people online into buying engines he'll never send them. His con catches up to him when one buyer comes knocking down his door with threats. To pay him back, Rick decides the only way out is deeper into crime.

When British schoolteacher Howard Marks agrees to help an old friend finish off a drug deal, he has no idea that it will be the start of a new career. Attracted by the easy money and the thrill of being a smuggler, he is soon running a huge transatlantic operation. But when one of his loads is busted, Howard becomes a wanted man and goes on the run. Concealing his identity using a string of aliases, he continues to smuggle over the next 6 years.

In 1972, 19 year old American Jim Pap Rocki, a college graduate is convinced by his brother-in-law to join him on a drug run to Southern Mexico. All goes to plan until the cargo catches fire and they are forced to crash-land. Jim soon finds himself in Mazatlan State Prison, ‘one of the oldest, meanest, dirtiest jails in Mexico'.

In 1993, 25-year-old australian Martin Garnett is already earning good money at a car dealership in Sydney, but he's hungry for more. He is caught smuggling 4.7 kilos of heroin into Bangkok and is set to become Australia's longest serving prisoner overseas.

The story of 28-year-old Canadian Tabitha Ritchie, whose life took a terrifying turn when she was caught smuggling drugs out of Colombia.

The shocking story of south african couple Debbie Calitz and Bruno Pelizzari, who were kidnapped by Somali pirates and held captive for 10 terrifying months.

Captured by Qaddafi's men while fighting with rebels in Libya, Baltimore-born Matthew VanDyke spent nearly six months in solitary confinement.

The traumatic story of an American schoolboy and his mother, who were kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf, a jihadist group, in the Philippines and held to ransom in the jungle.

When British Police raid his cocaine lab, drug dealer Pieter Tritton is forced to go on the run; but he can't resist collecting one final shipment from Ecuador. Unaware that British Police have tipped off Ecuador's Narcotics Agents, a local SWAT team catch Pieter red handed with two kilograms of pure cocaine. Sentenced to 12 years, Pieter must find out fast if he's got what it takes to survive in one of the worlds' most violent and corrupt penal systems.

On New Year's Eve 2012 after days covering the conflict in Syria, embedded with the rebel Free Syrian Army in Aleppo, rookie American photojournalist Matthew Schrier decides he has ridden his luck for long enough. But on his way back to safety his taxi is forced to a stop by armed militia of the Al Nusra Front - the Syrian Al Qaeda, and he's taken hostage. For seven agonising months Matthew is beaten, tortured and accused of being a CIA spy; but when the opportunity to escape arises he is forced to face his toughest test yet - save himself or stay with his fellow American prisoner.

In 2012 Simone Blignaut has a lucrative job working for one of Johannesburg's biggest drug dealers, but when her boss entrusts her to fly to Bolivia and secure a major cocaine deal, the 19 year old Simone is in over her head. When she realises she's been double crossed into trafficking liquid cocaine, she must evade capture by the Bolivian Police, if she is to avoid the same fate as her mother.

British journalist Phil Cox returns to Sudan to investigate allegations of illegally deployed chemical weapons; but when he learns that there's a ‘kill or capture' bounty on his head his plan starts to unravel. Ambushed by government backed militias, Phil knows it's only a matter of time before he's tortured and possibly killed. With all his communication devices destroyed he must get word to his producer and wife back home, but will she be able to save him?

In 1974 Steve Peterson had fully embraced the laid back counter culture of Southern California, and when the opportunity to smuggle one hundred and twenty kilos of marijuana from Mexico into the US presented itself, he jumped at it. But when the plan was interrupted by Tijuana cops, Steve faced years behind bars in the infamous and deadly La Mesa penitentiary?? unless he can find a way to escape.

After initiating divorce proceedings and sending his wife and young son back home, US Naval Officer Lemar Burton turns to partying late into the night with best friend Dom in the Spanish part of Catania, Sicily. But after he's demoted at work, his debts rack up fast and when Dom offers Lemar the chance to make easy money, Lemar makes a life-changing decision. He's arrested at Bogota airport carrying five kilos of pure cocaine hidden in a rucksack. Now Lemar has to survive one of Colombia's most brutal prisons, until salvation comes from the most unexpected quarter.

Jimmy gives up his job as a postman to open a bar in Thailand, but quickly starts dealing meth. The police get wise and in a dramatic takedown bust him and send him to prison. 

David embarks on an epic road trip, where he attempts to smuggle hash from Afghanistan to Germany. He is caught in Greece and imprisoned on an island. 

Unemployed Michael Singh tries cocaine smuggling to make money. But after 7 successful runs, Michael is caught and left to rot in a Dominican prison. 

In Mexico, Carlos Quijas is falsely imprisoned and tortured for drug smuggling. Inside Mexico's most dangerous prison, he has to get tough to survive. 

Champion skier Nick Brewer flees home after life changing accident and works his way to the top of a multi-million dollar cocaine empire in Argentina. 

Latasha, a dancer from LA, falls in love with a man in Bangkok. Caught at the airport with a stash of his heroin, LaTasha's life begins to unravel. 

On a mission to find drug labs in the Colombian jungle, Keith Stansell crashes. He's kidnapped by FARC guerrillas and held hostage for over five years.

Canadian 21-year-old Christina Jocko loves spending money, partying and taking drugs. But when she discovers opiates her life spirals into addiction. Out of work, out of money and out of luck, an offer of an easy $10,000 for running cocaine from Panama looks like a way out. Little does she realize the tempting adventure will cost her five years of her life. 

Australian hippie Mark O'Brien is dissatisfied with life. He joins an ashram in India, led by the infamous guru Osho, looking for enlightenment. But when a fellow disciple encourages Mark to join her in a plan to smuggle an exotic form of hash to Amsterdam, it sets off a chain of events that leads him to a very different commune: the notorious Yawanda Central Prison.

When cousins Paris and Maron go to Peru to help out family on a business opportunity, they get more than what they bargained for. 

After his arrest, drug dealer Charles Falco strikes a deal and becomes an undercover confidential informant. For the first time, Charles tells his story of how he infiltrated the Vagos, one of the most violent biker gangs in the US. 

In South Korea, English teacher Jesse Moskel becomes the kingpin of a huge MDMA smuggling operation - and one of Southeast Asia's most wanted men. 

Jimmy Bauer is on the cusp of breaking into the music industry and only one thing stands in his way. Money. He faces moral temptation and life-changing decisions, all as he works out what's more important to him. The fame? Or the music? 

When legitimate arms dealer Peter Bleach is asked to supply weapons for a suspected Indian terrorist cell, he agrees to go undercover for British Intelligence to capture the ringleader. 

Single mom Melanie Di Egidio is set up by her Colombian contact during her drug run to Ecuador. Caught by the police, she turns informer but is imprisoned anyway. In prison, she falls in love, marries a fellow inmate and gets pregnant. 

Canadian Hockey Pro Ryan Phillips is destined to become a star but as he climbs the ranks, he starts running a more profitable business alongside his hockey career - smuggling hundreds of pounds of marijuana from Canada into the US. 

Single mom Heather Ebling's dream vacation to Colombia doesn't live up to expectations. Then disappointment turns to terror when on her way home she's arrested for drug trafficking. 

Tina Myers is an exotic dancer and part time drug dealer. After she decides to make money on a Peruvian drug run, she embarks on a dangerous ride to the dark side of Peru's underworld, culminating in an insane prison escape. 

When Miami mobster Tony Galeota opens a club in Panama City, the competition frames him for drug dealing and human trafficking. Locked up in one of the world's worst prisons, Tony has to prove his innocence and attempt an audacious escape. 

An ambitious DEA Agent goes after a notorious Mexican Cartel leader but gets sucked into a dark and treacherous world where the lines between good and evil are blurred. He'll stop at nothing to get his man, but when tragedy strikes, vengeance takes hold, and he makes a fatal mistake that tears his world apart.

When a stunning swimwear model hits the big time, she moves to Hollywood to cash in. But life in the fast lane soon takes its toll on her finances and she decides the only way to keep the dream alive is to use her beauty brand as a ruse to ship drugs. By day she's pulling poses on the beach, and by night she's packing meth into gift sets, until one journey brings her whole world crashing down.

In this real life Goodfellas tale, New York teen John Alite gets a job at his local Deli, a hangout for ‘wise guys'. He soon finds himself wanting to be a mobster, and starts running errands for them. Rising swiftly through the ranks, John buries his conscience to become a notorious Mafia hitman. But when the house of cards tumbles, John must choose between his family and his oath to the Mob.

In this real-life version of Baltimore drama The Wire, local drug dealer Davon Mayer has a knack for making money. But when he gets arrested by two cops, to his surprise, they don't want him in jail, they want him to sell drugs for their profit. Davon soon finds himself enslaved by the corrupt cops' greed. The only way out is to risk his life and go undercover for the FBI to take them down.

A broke young Londoner gets an exciting offer to work in his dad's bar in Thailand. But when he arrives, he soon discovers a world of temptation that he can't resist, breaking his father's golden rule and driving them apart

A broke young mom is desperate for a lifeline out of her misery. So when a local drug dealer offers her the chance to bring a suitcase of cocaine back from Venezuela, she agrees. But there's a catch - she must take her daughter as cover to reduce suspicion. When things don't go to plan, her world is torn apart.

When a lifelong gun runner and drug dealer infiltrates a blood thirsty biker gang for a million-dollar payout, he gets swept up in a horrific murder hit. Faced with a lifetime behind bars for his involvement, he has no choice but to go undercover, wearing a wire to collect confessions from his fellow conspirators. After 19 years in Witness Protection, with a bounty still on his head, career criminal Paul Derry tells his story for the first time on camera.

A Japanese-American Orange County kid gets his dream to become a gangster before a Las Vegas mob hit changes everything and he agrees to work for the FBI. Now Gangster turned informant he works his way up the world of organised crime infiltrating the heights of mafia royalty in New York, before a planned hit threatens to destroy his entire world.

A 70s hippie and his naive pal are small time dealers selling hash to Boston college kids, until they get approached by a Colombian cartel keen to use their skills. Seduced by the danger and the dollars, they soon become multimillionaire importers, shipping tens of tons of marijuana on freighters up the West Coast, until one of the biggest busts in US history forces them on the run to Bolivia.

A troubled young father goes on the run to Spain to avoid a small prison sentence. He starts working for a crime gang in the Costa Del Sol and is enamored by the gangster lifestyle. He feels untouchable and agrees to smuggle and swallow a kilo of cocaine back from Peru, only to face the biggest adrenalin kick of his life and seal his fate forever.