Plot Synopsis

TRAFFICKED WITH MARIANA VAN ZELLER is a docuseries that explores the complex and often dangerous inner workings of the global underworld -- smuggling networks, and black and informal markets. Each investigation embeds with journalist Mariana van Zeller on a mission to understand a specific black market and the lives of the smugglers and outlaws who run it. Offering a rare peek behind the criminal curtain, she tracks the chain of custody of illicit goods, learns the secrets of the trade and provides a 360-degree view of the trafficking world from the POV of the traffickers, law enforcement and those caught in the crossfire. As she meets the willing players and unwitting pawns who make, buy, sell and move goods, services and ideas, Mariana attempts -- with characteristic boldness and empathy -- to unearth the geopolitical circumstances and context that create the world's multi-trillion-dollar shadow economy. Mariana will speak to how this global underworld affects everyone's world and what you should know about them now, as they continue to become issues that leaders worldwide need to address. TRAFFICKED WITH MARIANA VAN ZELLER premiered on Wednesday, December 2, 2020 from 9-11pm ET/PT, as National Geographic Channel debuted back-to-back episodes. Season 1 episodes include:

"Scams" (Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at 9pm): Mariana dives into the world of international scamming to understand how it all works and meet the outlaws at the heart of this booming industry. Her investigation takes her from the streets of Montego Bay to the glitzy neighborhoods of Tel Aviv as she pursues some of the biggest phone, lottery and financial scammers in the world and learns why Americans are the perfect targets.

"Fentanyl" (Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at 10pm): Fentanyl has turbocharged the deadliest drug crisis in American history. But less understood is how the drug has utterly transformed the black market. Mariana goes in search of the new bosses, new routes, new risks and the American communities paying the price for fentanyl's next wave.

"Counterfeiting" (Wednesday, December 9, 2020 at 9pm): Mariana journeys deep inside the Peruvian underworld to meet the gangster craftsmen who make and sell the world's finest counterfeit U.S. dollars. Along the way, she learns that many of these counterfeiting operations are run by criminal families in Lima, who are making a fortune despite the anti-counterfeiting efforts of the U.S. Secret Service and the Peruvian National Police.

"Steroids" (Wednesday, December 16, 2020 at 9pm): : In the age of social media, the demand for illegal steroids is booming. Mariana searches out producers and users in an attempt to understand the vanity, insecurity and greed that's driving this dangerously unregulated, billion-dollar black market in body-enhancing drugs.

"Pimps" (Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 9pm): In an eye-opening journey through her home state of California, Mariana embeds with pimps, victims, undercover cops and private investigators to understand the ugly business of illicit sex in America. How do pimps recruit? How do they think? Where do they get their power? And just how far will they go to grab their share of this billion-dollar black market?

"Cocaine" (Wednesday, December 30, 2020 at 9pm): Mariana retraces one of the world's most intractable smuggling routes, following cocaine's path from a remote Peruvian valley through Colombia's Caribbean coast, all the way to the streets of Miami. Despite the decades-long U.S. War on Drugs, cocaine production is at an all-time high, and Mariana meets some of the makers, smugglers, drivers and teenage backpackers who risk their lives to deliver America's favorite party drug.

"Tigers" (Wednesday, January 6, 2021 at 9pm): Mariana tackles what one of her sources calls "the untouchable smuggling story." The black market for tigers and tiger parts is so lucrative, so secretive and so dangerous that few have attempted to uncover its ugly details. Mariana journeys far, and near, to meet the smugglers face-to-face.

"Firearms" (Wednesday, January 13, 2021 at 9pm): Mariana uncovers a lethal supply chain of American firearms being smuggled into the hands of drug cartels and fueling record levels of gun violence in Mexico. A journey filled with jaw-dropping access to gunrunners, mules, cartel bosses and assassins takes an even more terrifying turn when the son of the world's most notorious drug lord, El Chapo Guzman, is arrested and the cartel that Mariana infiltrates decides to violently revolt.



The 10-episode second season of TRAFFICKED WITH MARIANA VAN ZELLER premiered on Wednesday, December 1, 2021 at 9pm ET/PT on Nat Geo. Season 2 offers viewers a mission-driven adventure to places rarely seen, providing an intimate peek behind the curtain to provide a 360-degree view of these poorly understood trafficking networks. Topics this season include van Zeller unveiling the inner workings of romance scams; following a meth superhighway, from a massive cartel-run lab in Sinaloa across the border and into the lives of American users; setting off on a wild journey through California's black market for weed, which has mushroomed since marijuana legalization four years ago; following a smuggling route of cars stolen from the U.S. to shipping containers bound for West Africa, where the demand is skyrocketing; going inside the secretive world of outlaw motorcycle gangs, also known as 1% clubs, where her interest is piqued by a string of biker-related violence; and investigating the dark corners of black market plastic surgery, where greed and social media are driving patients toward deadly motel-room operations. Additionally, as America struggles to reckon with its white supremacist past, van Zeller races to expose an underground movement hellbent on an even more violent white supremacist future. It's a movement that trades in ideologies as dangerous as any narcotic or firearm, with one responsible for mass killings around the globe. Season 2 episodes include:

"Black Market Surgery"" (Wednesday, December 11, 2021 at 9pm): Mariana van Zeller investigates the dark corners of black market plastic surgery, where sex, greed and social media drive patients toward deadly motel-room operations. In Miami's discount surgery centers, she uncovers a bombshell connection between felons, greedy doctors and patient deaths. (The program explores various ideals of feminine beauty. Content includes images of body modification and plastic surgery. Viewer discretion is advised.)

"Romance Scams" (Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at 9pm): In 2020 alone, romance scammers exploited Americans out of more than $600M. Mariana's investigation takes her to Ghana, where she meets a gang of scammers who are relentless in searching for high-income targets on dating apps and social media. The gang shows her their secrets to seduction, how much money they're making, and the lifestyle that has blossomed alongside the scam's growing popularity.

"Black Market Marijuana" (Wednesday, December 15, 2021 at 9pm): In 2016, California began a massive social experiment: legalized marijuana. But after four years, the black market is three times larger than the legal one. Mariana van Zeller sets off to find out what happened, who's profiting, and which groups are racing to meet skyrocketing demands. Following an underground supply chain from growers to distributors, she journeys through the wild west of weed.

"Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs" (Wednesday, December 22, 2021 at 9pm): Mariana van Zeller goes inside the secretive world of outlaw motorcycle gangs, also known as 1% clubs, when her interest is piqued by a string of biker-related violence. Undeterred by a strict code of silence, she interviews members of three major clubs, as well as ATF agents and cartel contacts, to learn about the bonds of blood and brotherhood that fuel these groups.

"Meth" (Wednesday, December 29, 2021 at 9pm): Mariana van Zeller follows a meth superhighway from a massive cartel-run lab in Sinaloa across the border and into the lives of American users. Her guide is a wily, meth-smoking dealer whose smuggling empire stretches from coast to coast. Some get rich, some get high, while others wind up dead. It's a hellish tour of an overlooked drug crisis that's burning a hole through America.

"White Supremacy" (Wednesday, January 5, 2022 at 9pm): As America struggles to reckon with its white supremacist past, Mariana races to expose an underground movement hellbent on an even more violent white supremacist future. It's a movement that trades in ideologies as dangerous as any narcotic or firearm -- and one responsible for mass killings around the globe.

"Stolen Cars" (Wednesday, January 12, 2022 at 9pm): Over 750,000 cars are stolen each year in the United States -- one every 42 seconds -- with many of them headed overseas. Despite recent crackdowns, law enforcement agencies warn of an epidemic of stolen cars smuggled to West Africa, where they command higher prices. Mariana chases down the players profiting the most from this surprising transcontinental supply chain.

"Cocaine Queens" (Wednesday, January 19, 2022 at 9pm): In the world of cocaine trafficking, the favelas of Rio and the mountains of Colombia are hallowed ground. But, what appears as an investigation into smuggling networks is actually a journey with a more specific focus. It's not only the drugs that have caught Mariana's attention. It's a new breed of narco that is starting to gain power in the shadows: las jefas, lady bosses.

"Amazon Mafia" (Wednesday, January 26, 2022 at 9pm): Mariana journeys into the heart of the Amazon rainforest to expose the networks responsible for a slew of recent killings and illegal destruction of the jungle. Along the way, Mariana will attempt to uncover an Amazon mafia profiting from "dirty gold" mining and clandestine logging operations.

"Fish Pirates" (Wednesday, February 2, 2022 at 9pm): Few Americans realize that as much as 30% of the seafood we eat has been caught illegally. Mariana goes inside the global hunt for these fish pirates, who make billions each year while destroying our oceans. Her journey will take her from the ports of Boston and Vigo, Spain, to the west coast of Africa, as she seeks to understand how these bad actors operate and why it's so difficult to stop them.



TRAFFICKED WITH MARIANA VAN ZELLER returned for its third season on Wednesday, January 18, 2023 at 9pm ET/PT on National Geographic Channel. In the season opener, "Black Market Organs," Mariana investigates one of the darkest and most elusive black markets in the world: the illicit trade in human organs.
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On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 9pm ET/PT, National Geographic Channel premiered "Behind the Mask," a new one-hour special of TRAFFICKED WITH MARIANA VAN ZELLER that takes an inside look into the series and the world's shadow economy.