Banged Up Abroad

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.

While vacationing in Malaysia, Monique and Callie Strydom are kidnapped by a Muslim militant group and held hostage for four months in the Philippines.

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

Rhys Partridge and Béla Nuss are kidnapped by British terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh while travelling in India.

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

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.

Cullen Thomas, working with his girlfriend "Rocket," is arrested trying to smuggle hashish from the Philippines to South Korea.

An American, Daniel Van De Zande is arrested trying to smuggle cocaine from Ecuador to Europe.

Taiwan's most-wanted criminal breaks into the house of McGill Alexander, a South African army colonel, and takes Alexander and his family hostage.

Russell Thoresen, an American traveller, is arrested in Peru for trying to smuggle cocaine.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

With his girlfriend pregnant, American musician Michael Morey needs money and agrees to smuggle cocaine from Quito to Spain. He barely makes it through Ecuadorian customs, but when he lands and goes through Spanish customs, he's not so lucky.

A 28-year-old English teacher named Tim Schrader agrees to smuggle eight kilos of heroin into the U.S. to solve his financial problems. Although he knows he could receive the death penalty, the money is too tempting to resist.

After accepting an offer to work as a hostess in Japan, Jackie Nichols meets a charming Israeli drug smuggler and agrees to smuggle hashish with him. She gets away with it four times, but the fifth time, she's not so lucky.

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."

Military veteran Kim Hood faces life behind bars in a squalid Thai prison after being caught smuggling 14 kilos of heroin with a friend, Lisa Taylor.

Vivian Carrasquillo faces a crash diet in jail after an attempt to raise funds for gastric bypass surgery by becoming a drug mule backfires.

Company director Robert Pringle is sentenced to seven years in a violent South-American lock-up after being pressured by his dealer to smuggle drugs.

Stephen Sutton gets caught up when he is offered $15,000 to transport cocaine disguised as gold, leading to an 11-year prison sentence.

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.

Iraqi soldier Latif Yahia describes how he was summoned to Saddam Hussein's palace and forced to become the body double of the dictator's eldest and most notorious son, Uday.

David and Jayne Bladen's dream of a new life overseas turns into a nightmare journey of drug smuggling and violence culminating in 20 months behind bars.

Erez Eltawil and Reini Weigel are among eight backpackers who are snatched by guerrillas during a trek in remote northern Colombia.

British nurse Stephen Comiskey, who takes a job in Saudi Arabia to support his family, draws the unwelcome attention of the Saudi religious police after a series of illicit gay affairs.

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.

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

The terrifying story of photojournalist Nigel Brennan and reporter Amanda Lindhout, who are held hostage for 15 months by a criminal gang in Somalia.

Thrown into a notorious Bangkok prison for attempting to smuggle heroin, Angela Carnegie has an epiphany while nursing a fellow inmate with a drug addiction.

Desperate to keep his family afloat, Paul Keany agrees to smuggle six kilos of cocaine from Venezuela back to Dublin, but it turns out to be the worst decision of his life.

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.

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.

Locked Up Abroad comes home to the United States to visit 19-year-old street racer Rick Cedar in Spokane, Washington.

Vegas, 1979, and Frank Cullotta's 'Hole in the Wall' gang is becoming notorious. The FBI catches up to him and while not exactly 'locked up abroad,' he enters witness protection. Now Frank shares his mob secrets.

Eddie Padilla is living the 'high life' and drug smuggling to support his cocaine habit. But a run-in with the Peruvian police sends him to a prison called 'House of the Devil.' Eddie tells the story of his daring escape.

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

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

The shocking story of South African couple Debbie Calitz and Bruno Pelizzari, who were kidnapped by Somali pirates and held captive for 20 terrifying months.

Tabitha Ritchie decides to fix her life after years of substance abuse and the loss of her children. But in Colombia she enters an even darker world.

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.

Lemar must survive one of Colombia’s most brutal prisons, after getting caught with cocaine.

Kidnapped by Al Qaeda, Matthew must decide to escape or stay with his fellow American prisoner.

When smuggling marijuana was interrupted, Steve faced time behind bars unless he could escape.

Journalist Phil is investigating illegally deployed chemical weapons when he’s taken hostage.

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.

Paris and Marlon travel to Peru for an exciting business opportunity—ending in the ultimate betrayal

Mark joins an ashram looking for enlightenment, but he finds himself locked up in India.

Party girl Christina spirals into addiction but sees a way out through drug smuggling.

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.

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.

Miami mobster Tony Galeota is locked up in Panama after being framed for drug dealing and human trafficking. Can he prove his innocence and escape?

A wild-living exotic dancer leaves the club scene of Florida to make a dangerous journey into Peru’s drugs underworld, culminating in an insane prison escape.

When the plan to smuggle marijuana from Mexico into the U.S. was interrupted, Steve Peterson faced time behind bars…unless he could find a way to escape.

Ice hockey star Ryan Phillips risks it all when he starts smuggling marijuana across the U.S. border, costing him his family, career and freedom.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

This is the true story of Andrea Mohr from Germany. She was involved in international drug smuggling and other criminal activities such as organized crime. She organized numerous drug trades around the world. She served a prison sentence from 1999 to 2004 in the high-security prison for women in Australia, in the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Veteran British soldier Brett Leonard Makinson, a retired parachute regiment medic, heads to India to overcome his PTSD but is soon tempted into smuggling weed out of the Himalayas to various parts of Europe. Caught and jailed in India, he is tortured until he signs a blank piece of paper for the Indian authorities.

This installment details the true story of Boxing Billy Moore's struggle to survive inside Klong Prem Prison, the notorious "Bangkok Hilton". Billy Moore traveled to Thailand to escape a life of drug addiction and alcoholism. He managed to overcome his inner demons for awhile, but eventually relapsed after trying yaba, which is a highly addictive form of methamphetamine.

David Harte is in his forties when his life collapses around him. He is tempted into the shady world of drug smuggling before being busted in Mauritius.

Rafael Arguelles is a gangster by the age of 17 but faces life-threatening consequences after going undercover for the FBI against his former friends.

Steven Beattie's Thai party lifestyle isn't cheap. He smuggles hash to fund it, but pays the ultimate price when he's locked up in Japan.

After smuggling drugs for eighteen months, Anelda Mare decides to quit, only to be told her parents will be killed unless she makes one last run.

Travel-loving Bronwyn Atherton finds herself on the road to destruction when she is lured into the shady world of international drug smuggling.

As the Cartels, DEA and a terrifying hitman all close in, drug runner Chris Heifner turns informant to save his family and take down his best friend.

To escape a life of poverty, a young Chicago gangster is drawn into smuggling drugs for a dangerous Mexican cartel, until the day it all goes wrong.