Banged Up Abroad

In this series we meet American, David, who was on a drug smuggling road trip from Afghanistan to Germany with his friend, Tom, when they were caught on the Turkish/Greek border and imprisoned in Greece.

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.

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.

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.

When a famous swimwear model builds a beauty brand, it becomes the perfect ruse to smuggle drugs around the world, until her double life implodes.

When a DEA Agent goes after a notorious cartel boss, he gets sucked into a treacherous world where a fatal mistake destroys his life.

Struggling single mom Melanie Di Egidio risks all in exchange for a quick buck, but when the plan goes wrong Melanie is busted with 6 kilos of heroin, caught up in a high-profile sting, and sent to a tough Ecuadorian prison.

Stripper Garrain Jones hits the big-time when he stars in a Beyoncé video, but then loses it all when he gets caught smuggling heroin through Europe.

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.

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?

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.

After his arrest, drug dealer Charles Falco is facing decades behind bars. Instead, he strikes a deal with the authorities and becomes a confidential informant - living a life undercover.

Hip hop dancer LaTasha thinks she's been offered the opportunity of a lifetime, but opportunity turns to nightmare when she finds herself locked up and pregnant in a Thai jail, having been fooled into smuggling heroin by a man she thought she loved.

Champion skier Nick Brewer gets involved in a multi-million dollar cocaine empire in Argentina.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 is in over her head.

The story of convicted drug dealer Pieter Tritton, whose organization used camping tents to smuggle cocaine from Ecuador to Europe.

In 1993, 25-year-old Australian Martin Garnett is already earning good money at a luxury 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.

In 1972 Jim PapRocki is flying nearly a ton of marijuana from Mexico to the U.S. He's forced to crash land, with Mexican police hot on his heels.

Hear the real story behind the Academy Award-winning movie 'Argo' from those who inspired it. Locked Up Abroad sits down with Antonio Mendez, the CIA officer portrayed by Ben Affleck, along with former hostages.

In the summer of 1972, five young Americans are caught trying to smuggle more than 2,000 pounds of marijuana out of Mexico and are locked up in one of the country's most violent prisons.

For Roy Hallums, a routine trip to the office turned into the fight for his life. In 2004, the 20-year Navy veteran was working in Iraq when he was suddenly kidnapped.

Tom Crutchfield smuggled snakes, tarantulas and king cobras around the world. But when the U.S. builds a case against him, Tom escapes to Belize. There, authorities imprison him without electricity or plumbing.

Shaun Attwood left England to be a stockbroker in America and finds himself dealing ecstasy.

As the longest POW in Vietnam, Ernie Brace likely endured more than any other POW during the war. After years in the jungle, he went to the infamous 'Hanoi Hilton' prison and heard an American voice: Lt. Cmdr. John McCain.

The shocking story of Tom Hart Dyke and Paul Winder, two British backpackers who are ambushed and held for ransom by a guerilla group while crossing the notoriously dangerous Darien Gap.

The gripping story of Tom Hanway, who flees a Chilean prison with a fellow prisoner, taking a dangerous and fatal escape route across the desert.

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

Orthodox Jew Samuel Leibowitz dreams of making millions as a drug kingpin in Brazil, leading to a terrifying term in the deadly Carandiru Penitentiary.

Duane Wollum is about to make some easy money smuggling cocaine, until an airport security check reveals that he is concealing a package.

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.

Ruthie Lambert, a middle-aged mother of three, decides to smuggle drugs to make ends meet. She is imprisoned for years but eventually escapes by bribing a corrupt official.

Dwight Worker is busted in Mexico for smuggling coke and attempts a daring escape from one of the country's most notorious prison.

Adventure-seeker Thomas Hamill takes a job driving trucks in Iraq, leading to a terrifying time in captivity after being kidnapped by insurgents.

Lucy Wright is a nursing student when her life goes from bad to worse to hell. Her boyfriend leaves, she becomes addicted to crack, and the bills keep piling up.

Travelling magician Mark Greening juggles a young family with a budding hash-smuggling business after moving to Japan, but he soon gets caught.

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

The tale of Chris Chance, whose daredevil life smuggling cannabis into the U.K. concealed in a rubber body suit leads to a nasty prison sentence at Carabanchel Prison.

After being caught with a kilo of heroin in Mauritius, Brigene Young faces 45 years in jail unless she can help catch the drug traffickers. Young eventually served 7 years in prison.

After heading to Mexico with a suitcase of fake money to buy drugs, California bodybuilder Jeremy Khinoo finds himself behind bars and in big trouble.

Briton David Scott tells the story of finding his soulmate in the Philippines, and risking a 14-year prison sentence for adultery.

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.

When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, Tom Lynch and his fellow contractor John White decided to get out of Iraq while they still could, but were captured by Iraqi soldiers and taken to a notorious prison in Baghdad, where they must listen to inmates being tortured to death.

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

British teen Zara Whittaker is arrested at an airport trying to smuggle cocaine out of Barbados.

Journalists Scott Taylor and Zeynep Tugrul are kidnapped by insurgents who accuse them of being American spies.

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.

Alex Silva 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.

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.

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

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

Church volunteer Greg Williams is kidnapped and tortured by members of Abu Sayyaf.

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

Amardeep Bassey, a British journalist on the way to Afghanistan for an assignment, is accused of being a spy and arrested in Pakistan.

Scott White is arrested in Kuwait for selling hashish, then escapes from jail during the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Lia McCord, an American teenager, is arrested in Bangladesh for trying to smuggle heroin.

Simon's trip to Peru is initiated by his friend Sarah Jackson who convinces him to smuggle drugs. Things turn bad for Simon when he is handed a lengthy prison sentence.

Safari guide Mark Ross and his tour group are kidnapped by Hutu rebels in Uganda.

The Colombian National Liberation Army kidnaps American adventurer Glen Heggstad.

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

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

Krista Barnes and Jennifer Davis are two American women arrested for trying to smuggle cocaine out of Peru.

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

Donald McNeil, a yachtsman, is arrested after being pressured to collect an enormous shipment of cocaine worth 30 million pounds (more than $43.2 million in U.S. dollars).

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

Scott Campbell and Lucy Baker are British travellers arrested in Mexico.