DirectorDavid Beriain
The valley of cocaine
Mar 7, 2016
Peru is considered to be the largest cocaine producer at all. It is estimated that hundreds of tons of the drug are manufactured in secret laboratories each year and then exported around the world. The problem: The coca-growing areas between the Andes and the Amazon are barely developed and poor - the ideal breeding ground for corruption and drug trafficking. Journalist David Beriain embarks on a dangerous search for clues to find out more about the illegal cocaine production on site. He meets coca farmers, unscrupulous drug smugglers and the military who risk their lives in the fight against the "Narcotráfico".
The way of cocaine
Mar 7, 2016
Peruvian cocaine is exported all over the world by winding paths. So-called "Mochileros", young men who carry kilos of coke in their backpacks through the jungle, take over the first stage of the transport. The goal: a highly dangerous drug transshipment point in the border area between Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. Reporter David Beriain accompanies the smugglers on their risky forced march, in which the group is in danger of being attacked or shot at any moment. A contact man in Manaus also reports on the billion-dollar business with white powder and the merciless laws of the favela.
Tears of the forest
Apr 22, 2016
The race for land has long since begun: huge areas of rainforest are burning in the Brazilian Amazon. Originally species-rich forests make way for cattle pastures and agricultural monocultures. Indigenous tribes are driven out by force, environmentalists are killed. Illegal logging, corruption and murder rule life in this lawless area. To learn more about the dirty business, reporter David Beriain travels to the wild west of Brazil. Here he accompanies officers from the IBAMA environmental police, speaks to dubious gunslingers and visits indigenous people whose habitats have been literally erased.
The curse of gold
Apr 22, 2016
Gold has always driven people crazy! The gold rush is still in full swing today - right in the middle of the Amazon. Thousands of treasure hunters defy the adverse living conditions of the jungle and illegally dig for the shiny precious metal. Destruction of the rainforest, pollution from toxic chemicals and criminal activities are the result. The gold prospectors themselves are mostly poor as the main prize is won by greedy bosses. In the Peruvian Amazon region of Madre de Dios, reporter David Beriain succeeds in gaining a rare insight into the unscrupulous gold business.
The gold mafia
Apr 22, 2016
El Dorado, the legendary city made of gold, is probably just a myth. But what is happening in the mines of Las Cristinas in southern Venezuela is a bitter reality. Surrounded by rainforest and in the middle of the tribal area of indigenous peoples, one of the largest gold deposits in South America is located here. Since the government revoked the prospecting license from a foreign company, 40,000 treasure hunters have invaded the territory - with fatal consequences for people and nature. To find out more about the gold rush and the obscure gang business behind it, reporter David Beriain ventures into the lion's den. But it is organized in a corrupt syndicate and up to a
The FARC guerrillas
Jul 10, 2016
The Colombian FARC is the largest and most dangerous guerrilla organization in Latin America. For over 50 years, a bloody civil war has raged between rebels and government troops, to which over 220,000 people have already fallen victim. How does this seemingly indomitable guerrilla group work? Where does your money come from? What are the goals of the resistance fighters? And what means is the state using to fight the rebels? To get to the bottom of these questions, David Beriain travels to the infamous Caquetá province in southern Colombia. After months of negotiations, he succeeds in gaining access to a secret FARC warehouse - a life-threatening operation
