Throng

Thursday 18th February 10.30pm

The drama-documentary series that tells the real-life stories of travellers detained overseas returns. The first episode recounts the tale of musician David Evans, who agreed to smuggle cocaine out of Venezuela – only to be arrested and imprisoned in one of the toughest penal systems in the world.

In 2006, David Evans was a struggling musician playing small-time gigs in the city of Atlanta, Georgia. “I felt like a failure,” he recalls. Financial pressures were bearing down on David and his girlfriend, Julie Goldstein. At one point, Julie was forced to pawn her beloved saxophone. “To pawn it was a sign we were deeply in trouble,” David says.

Dear Simon,  I just saw the "Banged Up Abroad" about you and my husband and I immediately got out our laptops to see if we could find out anything further on-line.  My search led me here and if I'm doing things correctly it looks as though you've been allowed to go home.  I pray this is true because you appear to be a solid person who never deserved what happened to you.  Just know that there are many people out here who are thinking of you and want so badly to help Please let me know if you there is anything further that needs to be done.  Be well.  Peace.   NancyJ

The drama-documentary series that tells the gripping real-life stories of travellers detained overseas concludes. Using interviews and archive news footage, this final edition recounts the experiences of a South African couple who were taken hostage by Islamist extremists while on holiday in Malaysia.

In April 2000, Callie and Monique Strydom were enjoying a diving holiday on the exotic Malaysian island of Sipadan. The Johannesburg couple were quick to settle in to the relaxed pace of life at the small resort and made friends with some of the other guests. “We just felt so safe and peaceful,” recalls Monique. “You wouldn’t think there would be danger around the corner.”

Just to say have not seen the show myself as i am still in Peru !!!!!

But thanks for all the support and i will update if anything happens

Simon

The drama-documentary series that tells the gripping real-life stories of travellers detained overseas returns for a new run. The first episode recounts the tale of Sarah Jackson, who duped her friend Simon into helping her smuggle drugs from Peru to the UK. Seized by police, the pair were split up and sent to different jails as they awaited trial.

In 2007, young mother Sarah Jackson found her party lifestyle in the otherwise sedate surroundings of Milton Keynes had finally caught up with her. She needed to pay off £3,000 to a loan shark, so she made a drastic decision. Sarah agreed to become a drugs courier, smuggling cocaine from Peru to the UK.

The drama-documentary series that tells the gripping real-life stories of travellers detained overseas concludes. The last episode in the series tells the story of a diplomat whose family was taken hostage by Taiwan’s most wanted criminal.

On a November evening in 1997, South African military attaché Colonel McGill Alexander was settling in for an evening at home with his wife and three children. But the night was to take a shocking turn when a man broke into the house and took the family hostage. The assailant was Chen Chin-hsing, a notorious felon who had committed a host of robberies, kidnappings, murders and sexual assaults.

The drama-documentary series that tells the gripping real-life stories of travellers detained overseas continues. Using re-enactments and interviews, this week’s instalment tells the story of Amardeep Bassey, a British reporter who found himself incarcerated in a Pakistani jail.

On 3 May 2002, Amardeep Bassey arrived in Pakistan on a professional and personal journey. A British-born Asian, Amardeep was on a mission to tell the stories of everyday Afghans in the wake of the US-led assault on the Taliban. After flying into Islamabad, the journalist travelled to Peshawar to meet up with the region’s human rights commissioner, Tariq Khan. The official had organised an escort to ensure Amardeep’s safe passage. Tariq also quelled Amardeep’s fears over the fact that he had not arranged a multiple-entry visa into Pakistan, stating that he could simply visit the passport office at the checkpoint on re-entry.

The drama-documentary series that tells the gripping real-life stories of travellers detained overseas continues. This week’s instalment follows the story of Texas teen Lia McCord, who travelled to Bangladesh to retrieve a haul of heroin. Her plans to put the $20,000 payment towards a university education were dashed when she was captured and thrown into a Dhaka prison. She narrowly escaped the death penalty but was handed down a life sentence.

In 1992, 18-year-old Texan Lia McCord was looking forward to a bright future and had dreams of attending business school. But financial pressures meant that the A-grade student had to resort to modelling lingerie. One night, her best friend, Cindy, was propositioned by a customer in the strip club where she worked as a waitress. The stranger offered her a trip to Bangladesh and $10,000 cash payment in return for the safe delivery of a stash of diamonds. Aware that her friend was strapped for cash, Cindy passed on the offer to Lia.

The drama-documentary series that tells the gripping real-life stories of travellers detained overseas continues its new run. The second episode recounts the tale of Russell Thoresen, a young American who moved to Miami in search of a better life. After meeting and falling in love with a beautiful girl, he was conned into becoming a drug mule – and ended up alone in a Peruvian jail.

When naïve 20-year-old Russell Thoresen moved from small-town Tennessee to the Florida Keys, he thought he had found paradise – a laid-back world of sun, sand, sea and attractive women. He found a trailer to live in and a great job running boat trips for tourists, but things were about to change. Just a few months later, he was trapped in a world of cocaine smuggling, betrayal and intimidation.

The drama-documentary series that tells the gripping real-life stories of travellers detained overseas returns for a new run. The first episode recounts the dramatic tale of Scott White, a young man whose party lifestyle in Kuwait of the late 1980s resulted in him being arrested for drug dealing. Sentenced to five years in jail, Scott’s eventual salvation arrived in the unlikely form of Saddam Hussein, whose invasion of Kuwait offered him the chance to make a daring escape.

In the late 1980s, Scott White was living in Kuwait City with his father, a wealthy doctor. Nineteenyear- old Scott was enjoying the best party lifestyle his father’s money could buy. He was part of a group of privileged ex-pats who ignored the Muslim laws of the land by installing bars in their bedrooms and brewing their own booze. Scott had a particular penchant for hashish, which his friend, Ali, would score for him from the Bedouin tribesmen out in the desert.

banged up abroad
colombia (4/4)

Concluding tonight is the drama-documentary series that tells the gripping real-life stories of travellers who find themselves detained overseas. In the last programme of the series, American martial-arts teacher and bike enthusiast Glen Heggstad recounts his experience of being kidnapped by rebels in the jungles of Colombia.

In October 2001, Glen Heggstad of Palm Springs, California, set out on a road trip he would never forget. Bored by the predictability of his life, he decided to seek adventure by riding a motorcycle to the tip of South America. Glen began by making steady progress through Central America, before catching a plane to the Colombian capital, Bogotá, to continue his journey.

Glen was aware that parts of Colombia – then regarded the “kidnap capital of the world” – were no-go areas under the control of rebels and drug smugglers. He sought advice from locals before undertaking a “road test” in the northwestern part of the country. Soon after leaving Bogotá, Glen was struck by the emptiness of his surroundings. “There’s no people, there’s no traffic, there’s really nothing out there and that starts to get spooky,” Glen says, recounting his story on camera.

banged up abroad
nepal (3/4)

Continuing tonight is the drama-documentary series that tells the gripping real-life stories of young travellers who find themselves incarcerated overseas. This programme focuses on the story of journalist and former magazine editor Piers Hernu, whose thirst for adventure landed him in a Nepalese jail for gold-smuggling.

In 1992 Piers Hernu was living the fast-paced and wealthy lifestyle of a city trader. The money was good, but the stress sent Piers into a year-long bout of clinical depression. Piers decided to go travelling around South-East Asia, and tasted the escapism he wanted. “It had all the elements of a sort of dream-like existence for a young man who wanted to get stuck into a few adventures,” says Piers. “And that’s what I ended up doing.”

After six months, Piers arrived in Hong Kong to find work. He became friends with Oz, an Australian who was staying in the hostel, and Rhett, a loud, brash American who said that he supplemented his own income with a little goldsmuggling into Nepal and wondered if they wanted in. It paid well, but sounded risky.

banged up abroad
peru (2/4)
22.00–23.05

Continuing tonight is the four-part drama documentary series that tells the gripping real-life stories of young travellers who find themselves incarcerated overseas. This programme focuses on two American teenagers who were sentenced to ten years in a Peruvian prison after being caught attempting to smuggle cocaine back into the US.

Krista Barnes and Jennifer Davies worked together as hostesses on the Hollywood nightclub scene, where late nights, celebrity friends and fun were all in a day’s work. “We were living a pretty nice lifestyle,” says Krista. When Jose, an old friend of Krista’s asked the two girls to move into his swanky beachside house with him, they quickly agreed.

Soon afterwards, two of Jose’s Peruvian friends, Angelo and Lucio, asked to speak to Jennifer and Krista. They offered the girls a fun-filled, all-expenses paid trip to the beautiful country of Peru, on the condition that they carry “a little bit of cocaine” with their luggage. The girls were assured that the drugs would be sewn into the seams of their bags so that they would be untraceable.

banged up abroad
venezuela (1/4)
22.00–23.05

Returning tonight for a second run is this four-part drama-documentary series telling the gripping real-life stories of young travellers who find themselves incarcerated overseas. The series begins with the cautionary tale of Leicester teenagers Jim and Paul, who spent four and a half years in Venezuela’s notorious penal system after attempting to smuggle cocaine.

In 1996, friends James and Paul were bored of life in Leicester and desperate for something exciting to happen. “I wanted a challenge; I wanted some adventure,” remembers Paul. “I wanted to go and see a bit of the world.” When they bumped into an old friend who had apparently come by a lot of money, they got their chance. If they wanted what he had, said the friend, he knew a guy who could help them get it.

The friend introduced the pair to a mysterious Russian man who had a proposal for them. If they went to Venezuela to collect a package of drugs for him, he would pay them $8,000 each, put them up in a luxury hotel and give them some spending money. All they had to do was meet their contact, collect the drugs and come back – and everyone at the airport would be paid off, so there would be “no way” they could get caught. James and Paul thought they were on to a sure thing. “We were gullible children,” admits James.

banged up abroad

Coming soon to Five is a new series of four programmes telling the true stories of travellers whose trips to paradise turn into a nightmare when they find themselves locked up in a foreign land.

The first episode recounts the cautionary tale of Jim and Paul, two teenagers from Leicester who thought that an offer to smuggle drugs from Venezuela would lead them to a life of riches and glamour. To begin with, they seem to be on the adventure of a lifetime, enjoying plush hotels and a glamorous lifestyle in Venezuela –paid for by their ‘employers’. But as the time approaches for them to receive the drugs and come home, they worry about the deal they have made.

Although Jim and Paul were assured that the airport authorities had been bribed and there was no threat of being caught, their worst fears are realised when officials discover their vests are packed with huge quantities of cocaine. The two friends are dispatched to one of the most notorious prisons in Venezuela, where they spend the next four and a half years in a living nightmare –pushing them to the brink of insanity.