More secrets of the underworld exposed in 'Trafficked' season two

Watching romance scammers in a Ghanian hotel room seduce their American victims, or chemists in the Mexican jungle making methamphetamine, investigative journalist Mariana van Zeller uncovers more than the secrets of black markets in the new season of Trafficked, on National Geographic.

She also searches for, and reveals, our shared humanity with the people who move in these underworlds, how they got there, and why they stay.

Being a parent deepened her connection with people, said Van Zeller, who's reported on black market syndicates for nearly 20 years. “I'm much more able to understand pain and loss, and why people put themselves in these situations, especially mothers and fathers,” she said in an interview with Lifestyle.

People need to share their stories without being judged and this is a major reason they talk to her, in her view. “There is a need we all share, which is to be understood. I think that when I tell them I’m here with empathy and no judgment, and really do want to hear their story, people connect with that.”

Even in a terrifying expose of white supremacist leaders and members of armed macho groups in the US — some of whom show up two months later as instigators at the  January 6 2021 attack on the Capitol in Washington DC — Van Zeller finds glimmers of hope, on the fringes.

An interview with a former white supremacist, now on a mission to rescue people from bigoted and violence-inducing circles, and the generosity of a father whose son was killed protecting others during a hate-crime shooting in El Paso Walmart in Texas in 2019, are among the rays of light that contrast with this shadowy movement whose ideology is “as dangerous as any narcotic or firearm”.

Their membership has exploded online — the “lone-wolf shooter” in Texas who killed 22 people and injured another 26 had links to right-wing groups — but, alarmingly, their tentacles are not only virtual. Ukraine is a hot bed of right-wing militias and Van Zeller travelled to the country to talk to right-wing celebs promoting their ideology from there.

She said of the January 6 assault: “We were filming two months before that happened with the Proud Boys and lots of people who were actually involved. We started hearing rumblings that they were going to Washington on January 6 ... I was shocked that there wasn’t more preparation to prevent it (if I knew).”

Asked why people in shadowy networks are so unguarded in their conversations with her, Van Zeller said: “The first one is ego. These are the best of the best gun traffickers, the best romance scammers and yet, a lot of time, not even their families know what they do. We give them a chance to boast, while changing their voices and protecting their identities

“Secondly, they are used to operating with complete impunity... they really don’t see any downside to talking to an internationally recognised and trusted brand like National Geographic,” she said.

The Trafficked team works relentlessly to get access to underground syndicates, said Van Zeller. “For every Yes we get, we get dozens of Nos. I’ve got very used to being rejected.”

“We look for subjects that are relevant and look at why are we telling them now,” she said. For example, the “meth superhighway” from Mexico into the US has taken off over the past two years.

“We were in a comparatively small lab in the middle of many others,” Van Zeller said of their experience in Sinaloa with cartel members and in US towns, where a meth-smoking dealer guided her.

In SA addiction to meth, or Tik, is rising, particularly in the Western Cape, where it is regularly linked to petty and violent crime. In the US, Van Zeller said: “Methamphetamine is still super related to crime ... and used by gangs and violent criminal groups... [but] we were trying to tackle the supply chain and see who it was affecting.”

Soon after she left the improvised Mexican lab with her camera crew, soldiers with guns and concealed faces surrounded them, a vulnerable situation in the jungle. Every time Van Zeller enters these underground or smuggling networks, she risks her safety.

She said that being the mother of “an amazing 11-year-old son” — to whom she hopes to be a role model as a woman and a mother — has increased her risk aversion but this is not obvious when you see the dangerous encounters she finesses.

The show has many shots of Van Zeller dressed casually and walking empty-handed into interviews, often at night, or in remote locations, and of her checking her rear-view mirror in a car while setting the scene for viewers.

“We take our safety very seriously. Obviously no story is worth a life,” said Van Zeller. The first season of Trafficked was a hit and the second season looks set to be as gripping. The episodes — Black Market Surgery, Romance Scams, Black Market Marijuana (Wild West of Weed), Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs, Meth, White Supremacy, Stolen Cars, Cocaine Queens, Amazon Mafia — have the gritty detail and mood of a crime thriller, except this is real life.  

* Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller airs on National Geographic on Thursdays at 9 PM from February 17