Ch4 True Stories - Brits Behind Bars Cocaine Smugglers (2015)

Brits Behind Bars Cocaine Smugglers

Which country is the world’s biggest cocaine producer? Not Colombia, not any more. It’s Peru and, when the stuff’s ready to leave the country for Europe, someone has to smuggle it. That’s too risky for the drug lords themselves, so they employ people to head for the clubs and find tourists who are giddy enough to exchange their suitcase for a new, slightly heavier one, for cash.

This film has access to every facet of the game, talking to convicted mules and the go-betweens who groomed them, riding with cops, and watching as a suitcase “artist” sews bricks of coke into luggage linings. Customs officers’ best method of detection? Staring at the airport check-in queue to see who’s sweating.

In August 2013, Melissa Reid and Michaella McCollum were each jailed for six years and eight months for trying to smuggle 1.5 million of cocaine to Spain from Peru, which has taken over from Colombia as the cocaine capital of the world. This documentary follows the work of Inspector Rodrigo Cano of an elite Peruvian anti-drug unit as he battles tirelessly against a seemingly never-ending supply of drugs and people willing to risk everything for a quick return.

RadioTimes Site

Full Version Available Upon Request