Banged Up Abroad

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Banged Up Abroad (rebadged as Locked Up Abroad, and Jailed Abroad in India, for the National Geographic Channel) is a British documentary/docudrama television series created by Bart Layton that was produced for Channel 5 and that premiered in March 2006. Most episodes feature stories of people who have been arrested while travelling abroad, usually for trying to smuggle illegal drugs, although some episodes feature people who were either kidnapped or captured while they were either travelling or living in other countries. Some episodes have featured real-life stories that first became well-known when they were made the subject of a film: films that have been "re-made" in this way include Midnight Express, Goodfellas, The Devil's Double, Argo, Mr Nice, and, to a lesser extent (with the story of Frank Cullotta), Casino.

Since 2006 there have been a total of 9 regular series plus a special series called 'Kidnapped Abroad'. A tenth series is currently airing (2018).

Video Banged Up Abroad

Episode format

The episodes typically contain a mixture of interviews with the real people and actors reconstructing the events. The convicted or captured are shown talking about their experiences, combined with dramatic reenactments of their respective experiences. The episodes focus on the events leading up to the arrest or time in captivity.

In a few cases, at the end of the episode, the convicted are shown sitting with handcuffs on if they are still in jail. In most cases, the convicted or captured have returned home. In some episodes, the convicted or captured are shown revisiting the region in which the incident occurred.

Maps Banged Up Abroad

Episodes

Series 1 (2006)

Episode 1: Costa Rica/Mexico (Scott and Lucy's Story)

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

Episode 2: Thailand (The Sandra Gregory Story)

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

Episode 3: Australia (Mark's Story)

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

Episode 4: Venezuela/Margarita Island (Denis and Donald's Story)

Donald MacNeil, 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). Later it was found that Edward Jarvis was the man named in the episode as "Frank"; he was later caught and arrested.

Series 2 (2007)

Episode 1: Venezuela (James and Paul's Story)

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

Episode 2: Peru (Krista and Jennifer's Story/Peruvian Prison Nightmare)

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

Episode 3: Nepal (Piers' Story)

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

Episode 4: Colombia (Glen's story)

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

Series 3 (2008)

Episode 1: Kuwait (Scott's Story)

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

Episode 2: Peru 2/Lima

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

Episode 3: Bangladesh

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

Episode 4: Pakistan

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

Episode 5: Peru 3/Cuzco

Sarah Jackson convinces her friend Simon Burke to go to Peru with her in order to serve as her unwitting drug-smuggling accomplice. Jackson was in the middle of serving a seven-year sentence when the episode was produced.

Episode 6: Taiwan

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

Episode 7: Ecuador

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

Episode 8: South Korea

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

"Kidnapped Abroad" (2008)

In 2008, five additional episodes were produced, each one about a kidnapping, under the alternate title "Kidnapped Abroad."

Episode 1: Uganda/Death in the Jungle

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

Episode 2: Chechnya/Nightmare in Chechnya

Jon James and Camilla Carr, who run a children's center in Grozny, are kidnapped by Chechnyan soldiers, then raped and tortured.

Episode 3: India/Hostage to Terror

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

Episode 4: Philippines: Fatal Mission/Kidnapped by Terrorists

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

Episode 5: Malaysia/Nightmare Vacation

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

Series 4 (2009)

Episode 1: Caracas/Venezuela Blues

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

Episode 2: Philippines/Terror Island/Kidnapped in the Philippines

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

Episode 3: Puerto Vallarta/Mexican Justice

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

Episode 4: Brazil/Brazil's Worst Prison/Busted in Brazil

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

Episode 5: Indonesia/Escape from Hell/Busted In Bali

Chris Parnell is arrested in Indonesia after being accused of smuggling hashish.

Episode 6: Mexico/Boy From The Ghetto/Busted in Mexico

American teenager Alex Silva is arrested trying to smuggle marijuana from Mexico into the U.S.

Episode 7: Cuba/What's in The Bag

In order to see her daughter, American Kahlilah Saleem is forced by her boyfriend to smuggle cocaine through Cuba.

Episode 8: Iraq/Kidnapped In Iraq

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

Episode 9: Barbados/Busted and Pregnant

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

Episode 10: Ecuador/Master of Deception/Betrayed in Ecuador

Zoe McGarry, an Irish woman living in London, receives an 8-year prison sentence in Ecuador after the rucksack she was carrying is found to contain drugs. She claims she did not know the bag contained drugs and was duped by someone who asked her for help.

Episode 11: Sierra Leone/Jungle Siege

Major Phil Ashby, tasked with disarming rebel fighters in Sierra Leone, becomes trapped and attempts a daring escape.

Episode 12: Jamaica/Jamaican Getaway

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

Episode 13: India/Delhi/Party Girl

Clare Matthews, a British woman on extended vacation in Goa, ends up in an Indian prison after attempting to mail hashish from Delhi.

Series 5 (2010)

Episode 1: Istanbul/The Real Midnight Express

The 1977 book Midnight Express, and the Oscar-winning 1978 film on which it was based, also called Midnight Express, told the story of 20-year-old college student Billy Hayes, his imprisonment for drug smuggling and his escape from the infamous Sagmalcilar Prison in Istanbul, Turkey. But for legal reasons, the book, which Hayes co-wrote, was not completely accurate and the film version strayed even further from the truth, reportedly for artistic reasons. In this episode, Billy tells the full story of being sent to the brutal Turkish prison and his eventual escape.

Episode 2: Iraq/Human Shields In Iraq

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.

Episode 3: Tokyo/Tokyo Takedown

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.

Episode 4: Bangkok/Bangkok Underworld

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.

Episode 5: Spain/Sold My Soul

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.

Episode 6: Panama/Colombia Ambush

Young American backpacker Mark Wedeven and his companions decide to cross from Panama to Colombia through the jungles of the Darién Gap, where they are kidnapped by a paramilitary group.

Series 6 (2011)

Episode 1: USA/The Real Goodfella

Henry Hill, the inspiration behind the classic film Goodfellas, relives his descent from Mafia wise guy to a term in Terminal Island Penitentiary.

Episode 2: Saudi Arabia/Saudi Bootlegger

Gordon Malloch's bootleg booze racket fuelled a party lifestyle in Saudi Arabia, until he gets caught and finds himself facing four years in prison.

Episode 3: Philippines/Prisoner Of Love

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

Episode 4: Mexico/Funny Money

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.

Episode 5: Mauritius /Heroin Sting

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.

Episode 6: Spain/Daredevil Drug Runner

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.

Episode 7: Argentina/The Cocaine Trap

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

Episode 8: Peru/Drug Dealer Revenge

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.

Episode 9: Colombia/Teenage Drug Smuggler

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

Episode 10: Thailand/Backstabbed In Thailand

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

Series 7 (2012)

Episode 1: Peru/Cocaine Mule Mom

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.

Episode 2: Argentina/Escape From Argentina

Lucy Wright, a crack-addicted nursing student, faces 25 years in prison when she's caught trying to smuggle cocaine into the U.K. from Argentina.

Episode 3: Saudi Arabia/Dangerous Liaison

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.

Episode 4: Guyana/Guadeloupe/Caribbean Nightmare

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.

Episode 5: Japan/The Juggler Smuggler

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

Episode 6: Pakistan/From Hollywood To Hell

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.

Episode 7: Mexico/Black Palace Of Horrors

After a horrific stay in Mexico's notorious Black Palace prison, would-be drug smuggler Dwight Worker vows to escape or die trying.

Episode 8: Colombia/Colombian Kidnap

When Reini Weigel, Erez Eltawil and six other backpackers are snatched by guerrillas in Colombia, they adopt different survival strategies, including cooperation versus outright resistance.

Episode 9: Brazil/Hasidic King Of Coke

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

Episode 10: Nicaragua/I Am Not A Terrorist

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

Episode 11: China/My Dad The Smuggler

Scott Campbell can't wait to take a trip to China with his estranged father. Little does he know that his father has something else planned.

Episode 12: Iraq/Son Of Saddam

The incredible story of how Iraqi soldier Latif Yahia is forced to become a body double for Uday Hussein, Saddam Hussein's highly volatile eldest son.

Episode 13: Chile/Chilean Prison Break

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.

Episode 14: Panama/The Orchid Hunters

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.

Episode 15: Venezuela/Venezuela Hustle

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.

Episode 16: Iraq/Highway to Hell

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

Episode 17: Egypt/Not Without My Baby

When Susan Haglof forges a birth certificate after a shady adoption in Egypt, she faces the possibility of being imprisoned and losing her baby.

Episode 18: Somalia/Nightmare in Somalia

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

Episode 19: Thailand/Busted in Bangkok

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.

Episode 20: Russia/Escape from the Gulag

Caught trying to smuggle heroin, Jerry Amster finds himself facing a lengthy term in one of Russia's toughest labor camps.

Series 8 (2013)

Episode 1: Vietnam/POWs McCain & Brace

Ernie Brace is a civilian American pilot during the Vietnam War held as a prisoner of war for about eight years in Vietnam, including at the infamous "Hanoi Hilton." He communicated with fellow POW John McCain by tapping through the wall and the two never spoke face-to-face until after the war ended. The episode features interviews with both Brace and McCain, who currently serves as a U.S. Senator representing Arizona. This episode was blocked in Vietnam due to what the Vietnamese government called "inaccurate information" about the Viet Cong.

Episode 2: Belize/Snakes on a Plane

This episode tells the story of Tom Crutchfield, who is a reptile smuggler under investigation during Operation Chameleon. He gets close to being caught in the United States, so he flees to Belize, where he ends up in prison until being deported back to the United States.

Episode 3: USA/Raving Arizona

Shaun Attwood moves from England to Arizona to become a stockbroker. However, he gets caught up in drugs, and eventually starts dealing ecstacy. After some intimidation from a mafia boss, he goes back to being a stockbroker, but he gets a visit from the police and ends up serving more than six years in prison.

Episode 4: Iraq/Buried Alive

This episode tells the story of Roy Hallums, who is kidnapped in Iraq.

Episode 5: Iran/The Real Argo

This episode is the true account of the story that inspired the movie Argo about the Iran hostage crisis. This is the story of how American diplomats were rescued in Iran by the Canadian Embassy and the CIA after the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Episode 6: Mexico/Mexican Prison Escape

This episode tells the story of five Americans attempting to smuggle more than 2,000 pounds of marijuana to the United States. After they are caught and placed in a Mexican prison, they plot a daring escape, excavating a 20-meter tunnel under the prison walls.

Episode 7: Peru/Hippie Mafia

Eddie Padilla lives in Hawaii and supports himself with drug smuggling. However, during one of those trips, he gets caught in Peru and lands in a Peruvian prison called the House of the Devil.

Episode 8: USA/Vegas Mobster

Frank Cullotta is a mobster in Las Vegas who becomes well known for robberies. He is caught by the FBI thanks to an informant, becomes a witness against the mob and enters witness protection.

Episode 9: Fast, Furious and Busted

This episode takes place in the United States and tells the story of Rick Cedar from Spokane, Washington. Needing cash, he runs a con, but that con catches up with him. He moves further into crime to get what he needs.

Episode 10: USA/Hunting Mr. Nice

Howard Marks is a school teacher who enters into criminality when he helps a friend with a drug deal. Eventually, the easy money turns him into a multi-national drug smuggler. One of his loads is seized by authorities and he is now wanted and on the run. However, the law manages to catch up with him.

Series 9 (2016)

Episode 1: Mexico/Plane Crash Marijuana

In 1972, 19 year old American Jim Paprocki, 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'.

Episode 2: Bangkok/Thai Prison Hell

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.

Episode 3: Colombia/Bogota Belly Bust

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

Episode 4: Somalia/Somali Pirate Hostage Hell

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.

Episode 5: Philippines/Jungle Terror

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.

Episode 6: Libya/Gadaffi's American Prisoner

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

Series 10 (2018)

Episode 1: Ecuador/Breaking Bad in Britain

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

Episode 2: Syria/Escape from Al Qaeda

Rookie photographer Matt Schrier travels to Syria, where he is captured by Al-Nusra Front, the Syrian Al-Qaeda. Matt was held hostage for seven months with journalist Theo Curtis before escaping.

Episode 3: Bolivia/Narco at Nineteen

Simone Blignaut travels to Bolivia, where she is double-crossed and forced to smuggle liquid cocaine.

Episode 4: Sudan/Double Crossed in the Desert

When Journalist Phil Cox returns to Sudan to investigate allegations of illegally deployed chemical weapons, he is kidnapped by a government-backed militia.

Episode 5: Mexico/Mexican Border Bust

Southern California resident Steven Peterson is arrested and imprisoned in Tijuana after attempting to smuggle 120 kilos of marijuana from Mexico to the United States.

Episode 6: Colombia/Bad Bromance

U.S. Naval Officer Lemar Burton is caught attempting to smuggle five kilos of cocaine from Colombia to Italy.

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International airings

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References

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External links

• Official website
• Banged Up Abroad on IMDb (2006 series)
• Banged Up Abroad on IMDb (2007 series)

Source of the article : Wikipedia