Inside the Dark World of Assassins (Full Episode) | Trafficked: Underworlds with Mariana van Zeller

when we were going to do a story about assassins I honestly didn't think that we were going to be filming here in Los [Music] Angeles we're about to meet our contact supposedly he's found somebody who's willing to talk to us you want to come in what's up how you doing so he's around here somewhere yeah he's around the corner he just a little nervous and a little uh ify about it is he nervous to the point that things can get ugly yes it's unsafe for us yes cuz for he thought like it was a setup like like if I set up he like I'm killing you and everybody else okay I'm stopping here for a second cuz I think before we meet him we should talk so he's for sure an assassin oh I seen people pay $880,000 right in front of me for for a hit yeah I seen it I seen it to me just like bipolar like he just he could be cool and a second he just like yeah that's one right as a journalist covering the underworld I've seen almost everything that can be trafficked trafficked but there's one trade that's always been just Out Of Reach where the product is death itself this is as black as the Black Market gets we have hundreds of gang members criminals and people who love to kill for money in 2019 and 2020 alone Hitman murdered nearly 3,000 people around the world and the killing game shows no signs of letting up this is something right yeah you guys better block this out by covering you everything changing my voice too we're changing your voice so it's the only chance you guys got I can easily take your H you out right now so you know I get a little bit nervous so that's when my instance start kicking in you know but that's just me so I'm I'm going to be blonde and just ask you the question so you you you kill people pay you to kill people that's what you want to call it if they got the money for it I don't haveit say no questions asked is it always here in in the city in LA or no go everywhere all around the country yeah to New York Chicago Utah how many times have you done it can't tell you that more than 10 it's been a few been a few you remember the first time you did it you never forget is it easy h no it's never easy never easy but it always gets done do you do any surveillance beforehand I don't know how I do it how I how it happens yeah what now you getting into details now I try to tell you that do you have limits though or boundaries are there certain people that of course like what no kids no girl no women no no kids but a father is okay man I'm good do you have kids of course but there is a part of you that has to feel a little bad knowing that these are people who have people who love them right they have family i a i Ain weak like that lady don't get into my kids and talk about my kids anymore okay I won't talk about your kid any but now you now you making me all my kids now I'm getting a little bit tired now you're getting tired a little bit irritated yeah Mom kind of short tempered sometimes we done okay I mean if you have to leave you have to leave and just like that the interview is over what I have so many more questions so much more I want to know about Hitman and what they do but assassins are paid to silence their victims and to stay silent about it in my career I've run into many people who killed for a living sario in [Music] Mexico gang members in Brazil and colia even a Hitman in Amsterdam would you shoot a journalist if you were paid to yeah yeah yeah yeah for free it's a global phenomena Hitmen make headlines around the world a hit squad pulls up and a hooded assassin unloads yet little is known about how Contract Killers actually work or what drives them to make a living out of killing for that I need to go to a country where they Thrive like few others South Africa where news of the latest hit is an almost daily occurrence yet another whistleblower has been gunned down he was assassinated ambushed by two gunmen in the last s years alone assassins here have killed more than 1,000 people I want to know how that's possible so how far are we more or less uh last one minutes okay so we should start getting closer to you guys here right all right all right I'm on my way to the epicenter of South Africa's assassination epidemic so we're following the White Range Rover the two cars are full of bodyguards one in front and one right behind this is where things start to get a little heated so we have to make sure oh look look at that this is not gang territory or cartel country incredibly it's a minius taxi center where I'm headed to meet a man with a Target on his back look at that this is insane that mean seriously he's more protected than the president it seems okay so I'm going to go out and meet him hi Yanda how are you I uh nice to meet you you're the most important person in South Africa it seems from all your security guides yeah I would say in this area I'm the most important Yanda is what is known in South Africa as a taxi boss he runs a fleet of 500 mini buus taxis a lucrative gig but not for the faint of heart so why so much protection and what's happening around us I've been attacked uh five times you've been attacked five times yes by whom uh by the opposition there's always an opposition I've been told they are paid more than million to to try to kill you to kill me [Music] yes in South Africa the taxi game is Big Business the industry transports nearly 70% of South African commuters with an estimated 10 million commuter trips every day raking in around $4.7 billion a year and with so money at stay the fight to control the most lucrative routs is brutal oh my god oh no police have launched a massive man hunt following a deadly attack on a fully loaded taxi a quick search online brings up dozens of videos and news clips that paint a gruesome portrait of the industry this latest incident has highlighted the problem of Taxi violence rival taxi syndicate torch each other's Vehicles shootouts are common and for some taxi bosses hiring Hitman to take out their competition is the fastest way to hire profits streets have become hunting grounds for Assassins involved in an ongoing taxi Feud taxi people only believe in one thing they believe that in order for you to control this you must kill this person you know even the last incident I had uh one bullet AK-47 stuck in my head no those are the SCS as you can see I see it yeah and the people that shot at you were they hired Hitman yes hir Hitman we call them [Music] inabi do you always feel on edge when you're here in your always because whenever I'm here I'm not safe I I always have my fire I'm this is my baby so if you were to leave right now and walk outside without your bodyguards what would happen how long do you think you'd last before somebody tried to shoot at you not more than 15 minutes wow that it's a crazy way to live like that yeah yanda's Rivals the people who he says have hired Hitman to kill him have their base just around the corner and he wants to show me what happens when he gets close to their Turf this feels a lot more unprotected we're not surrounded by your taxis yes yes yes that side that's where uh if we go there was anything can happen should we stay here no let's come a little yes I'm with you I'll do whatever you say safe as you can see uh those Tex is parked there oh yeah all the Vans over there that that's another parking lot and that's the other that's his rifles the other Taxi Association and the people who he says have been trying to kill him yes that's correct some are coming oh yeah they all came out with their own guns oh this is so crazy like 1 2 3 4 5 6 seven eight armed guys right walking right towards us that is crazy so now they seem to be talking but you can see that they're not helping no I'm in South Africa with a taxi boss facing down his Rivals Rivals he says have hired a hit squad to take him out are we poking the bear a little bit too much here are we yes kind of but this is our daily life yeah he's waving us away saying go go go and they were obviously not happy that we were there I mean I can see how things can change really fast and this can become bad oh anytime the taxi business accounts for nearly half of all assassinations in South Africa and it's become a breeding ground for Hitman how easy is it to hire inabi here very easy in fact they come to you and ask for a job is there anyone we can kill for you no that's happened yeah that happens have you ever hired a Hitman yes I have to kill somebody else to do the same thing that they doing to me you were trying to kill the person who was trying to kill you yes that's correct it seems to be a bit of a a cycle right because somebody tries to kill you you try to kill somebody else and it seems like it's a NeverEnding cycle of violence that's how it's it's been happening and I don't think anyone can be be able to stop this it's a NeverEnding cycle of violence that yand knows all too well but when I ask him if he could connect me with a Hitman he says no as they've got lot of enemies I'm their number one target yeah I'm not safe what he did tell me was this some taxi bosses have a side hustle running networks of Assassins that they hire out for high pay hits on whistleblowers Business Leaders and politicians we're joining an elite anti-gang unit on a raid as they close in on one of these assassin networks uh we're heading for the house that is believed to belong to a taxi boss it's a convoy of about 20 cars and about 35 men we're in one of durban's vast Urban slums created during the country's era of forced racial segregation known as apartheid it was a violent system designed to keep black South Africans in poverty and its Dark Legacy remains there's information that this taxi boss has incab commonly known as itans that are wanted staying in his premises so we just got to be vigilant [Music] as we pull up the SWAT team storms the house look look oh yeah you see them FR s years of breaching tour so they're breaching the door right [Music] now okay so he says thater for a dozen men s of securing the premise watching our windows and access points going to go behind you yeah is it clear clear is it clear it seems to be clear right now so they have two suspects here on the floor right here and they're still [Music] searching is a rifle Le okay so far they've recovered three firearms and I believe they have one more suspect being taken out now the police tell me the suspected Hitman was caught with an illegal automatic weapon and was dressed in in the uniform of a private security company which I've heard is a disguise that Hitman here often use that's because in South Africa licensed security guards like yanda's men are allowed to carry fully automatic Firearms not available to the average person oh so that's the assault rifle what kind is it this is a this thing looks R5 an R5 this is similar to a police automatic rifle that our embus carry wow how do they get their hands these guns we let check whether they are stolen for States we do not know South Africa is a wash with illegal Firearms more than 2 million of them and they're fueling the assassination epidemic unlicensed weapons are harder for the police to trace which makes it easier for the Assassins to do their work globally assassins are known to use car bombs IEDs and poison but Firearms are their weapon of choice so if I want to find an active Hitman my best bet is to follow the trail of illegal [Music] guns I head north to the outskirts of Johannesburg to meet a contact who can help Rudy Rudy come on in you tell me how to get how to go right left this guy that we're meeting what what can you tell me about him is he uh he can organize weapons oh so he buys and sells weapons buy and sell weapons yeah go right here yeah you can put down the cameras now yeah okay so let's put cameras down guys we're getting close the organizer who we'll call VY is running late and when he finally arrives he explains why okay so um you went to the police station is that right why the person that I'm working with in the police station he wanted to give us something so the the 9 mm you got that from the police yes say they arrest you with a gun today that gun they're going to sell to somebody like me VY tells me that he's bought dozens of handguns from the police his source for heavy weapons is equally shocking these assault Rivals those ones are from the Army you get get them from the military yes and what kind of weapons are you we talking about uh maybe an R5 R4 vr5 is the same model assault rifle I saw the police confiscate from a suspected Hitman most of your clients use it for which for what Amro and assassinations and we really want to meet a an an inabi an Hitman who's currently active do you know anyone that you could introduce us to uh I don't know if he will agree but there is [Music] one unfortunately his assassin turns us down but I get lucky another local Source comes through with an [Music] introduction but this is it after many weeks trying to get a Hitman to talk to us and looks like we finally have one who's agreed it's still surreal to me that this profession even exists that someone kills for a living I'd feel more comfortable if assassins remained a Hollywood Trope with their cool Detachment from Death their effortless Mastery of weapons and their impressive Old Testament knowledge and I will strike down upon thee with great vengance I do this for I'm living but the reality is much less slick and in a way perhaps more scary so JoJo right yes it's okay if I call you Jo it's fine well how how did you start how did you get into this business there's always a killing that needs to be done every day somebody needs to die where the drugs Taxi is even politics now it's busy constantly people need to die I'm in South Africa investigating the world of professional assassins Joo did you go to school yes went to college it is very hard to find work then there's no money coming in then you m yourself with the people selling drugs you be like a Hitman for the person selling drugs and how many people do you think you've killed in your life in [Music] total I would say close to 30 close to 30 people yes I would say now how do I put this killing is is is it's part of our routine we don't even want to know what he did or who he is as long as he has money we don't care how much do you get paid for for hit if it's 100K you end up getting roughly 25 30k so that's about $1,400 more or less yes who gets the rest I don't go alone you're not you need backup so how many people do you work with three and then the driver if I kill you I have to kill your backup too your brothers your friends they must also die one thing that we've heard is that the police are sometimes even warned when there's going to be a killing yeah most of the time they know if you have police under your your payroll they'll do as you say then you just go in and then you do the hips why do you think the situation is so bad in in South Africa poverty you know South Africa is not a poor country it's just that the rich people keep the wealth to themselves then the below average people you struggle to live JoJo reminds me of some of the other Killers I've met mostly young always poor driven to Crime because they believe it's the only choice they have in Mexico these young men saw it as a shockingly normal career path in Amsterdam this Hitman grew up in a violent drug dealing family at first my brother and I and then my other brother my nephew other nephew they're all they're all killers killers and deers it's a grim reality and as I heard in Los Angeles too it often starts young how old were you the first time I say I was about 18 that's all I saw growing up the gang bang and the killing the drug sales all that I survive I had to fight a lot I had to do what I had to do it's the way life is heartless you either survive or you [Music] die you as the average person is either you die crying or you die fighting it's your choice do you mind me asking what your parents did it was the P away when I was very young both of you were they killed yes that was the turning point I started carting a knife in my pockets because your parents are your protection now I don't have protection anymore what did you think of the person that killed your parents I wanted to kill them very badly so you do realize that you're doing the same thing to other kids right you had a really hard life because your parents were killed and you're basically doing the same thing to other children never thought it you never thought about this never ever but most of the time make myself feel better cuz I know the people I'm going after also bad people but are they do you consider yourself a bad person [Music] yeah of in this thing for a very long time I think along the way I lost who I am uh yeah I mean it was uh it is horrible what he does it is horrible horrible it's the worst thing you can do as a human being is to take another human beings life um but at the same time you hear his story and you can understand how people fall into this pattern and this cycle of violence of his parents being killed and then himself becoming a killer um as controversial as this may sound I felt sorry for him yeah but I you know I feel more sorry for the people that he's killing and for the families of the people that he's killing of course but yeah it's it's a really a really hard one yeah still the next stop on this journey is clear if I really want to understand assassins I need to understand the damage they do has been taken out on you or your husband also you drop off your tis just a matter of days you guys will be murdered I had the gunshots H then I started panicking I rushed outside that's when I found him Johanna Pena's husband Eric was assassinated in October of 2022 Witnesses say two Hitmen opened fire on Eric's Car minutes after he dropped his children off at [Music] school I still have flashbacks of him lying in the car with the bullet holes you know I tried to call his name you know so we did wake up like and like so sorry I'm so [Music] sorry Johanna and Eric ran a technology company that was working with the government on a project when they noticed a government official trying to steal funds Johanna says her husband reported the fraud to the police and then testified against the official his honesty proved proved fatal Joanna and her children are now in hiding afraid the Hitman will return to kill them my daughter was like Mama what kind of a life are we living because after we buried my husband they were still following us they went to their school I remember covering her I'm like it's fine I can die but like God let her live and um it's hard living in fear my kids are in pain they're fatherless um they miss their dad I miss him I I miss my best friend there's some nice houses here huh very nice shopping movies you can bring your girlfriend here and the dates JoJo wasn't involved in Eric's killing but as I ride with him through Durban I'm very aware of the parallels so if you do have a Target who would live in a neighborhood like this how would you go about it you first have to learn that routine Trace them through social media look at the places they go to the people they usually tag in their posts everything has to be discreet you know it has to be perfect if it's a residential neighborhood like this there's many ways you you can go in you know you can be Tred as police knock on the door dressed as police how do you get how do you get a police uniform is that easy oh yes it's easy you have one police who can just sell us a few do they know what it's for yes they know so is that your preferred method that's the easiest and most preferred method we I woke up right here right here yes you know as they're talking there not suspecting like that I walk right up if I feel like greting I'll GRE them then just shoot them in the head chest and head head is to make sure that they're definitely gone have you ever shot uh women and children women no there has been situation where there were kids but that you killed the father and you live but the kids were there in the house as well I I I don't want to think about it too I rather get drunk that's our coping mechanism you can't be over every day doing this it's hard to hear these details and not think about what Johanna and her children are now going through but it's telling that she doesn't blame the Hitman I blame the police they failed us they knew the suspects they could have done something about it following Eric's assassination the police track down the Hitman they found the cars they drive and an address where they're known to frequent they know the suspect and they're not doing anything so nobody has been arrested nothing has happened to anyone be no you think that it's related to the business deal the the contract that you yeah for sure 100% 100% time and again this is what we've heard if you have police under your your payroll they'll do as you say so the the 9 mm you got that from the police but I want to understand how deep the corruption goes and for that I need to speak to someone on the inside he told us to meet him in the P6 and hopefully he'll be there [Music] all right what you're doing is not only risky but incredibly Brave that's why I'm putting the mask because of the target I'll will be killed because there's so much risk in doing this why did you want to talk to us police are scared of criminals but the truth need to be told this is Toran it's not his real name he spent over 25 years in the South African Police Service I've seen so many time the police themselves giving the criminals their own uniform to kill people you actually saw some of your colleagues give the uniform to criminals to Hitmen [Music] yes the police themselves when they recover the G they go back and sell them have you seen this happening yeah I've seen so many times with your own like you saw it in my own eyes they know full well that these are assassinations that people are going to be murdered definitely they've got the roten police inside that they'll advise those criminals they'll tell those criminals what to do how to do did do you know police officers who also became Hitman yes there is so they work for the Hitman and some cases they're Hitman themselves yeah and definitely if you arrested you'll buy the police inside the prison wherever murder goes unpunished contract killings become a tool of the powerful a way to protect corrupt interests that's true in Mexico when drug cartels slay journalists four journalists have been killed in Mexico in just the past two months in the Amazon when illegal loggers kill activists a Peruvian environmentalists and three other community leaders have been killed in a region bordering Brazil or in the Netherlands when drug gang silence Witnesses before a trial Mafia style murders in the Netherlands has led to questions about whether drug gangs are threatening the rule of law the fear of assassination becomes a powerful tool of control especially when the institutions supposed to be fighting back are in on the take this is not just a handful of cops that are corrupt you're talking about systemic corruption how far up do you think the corruption actually goes in South Africa up to the top level nobody can stop it no matter how much they try why not because of the people let are insight so every single person we spoke to for the story has mentioned police corruption this is Becky Chelly South Africa's minister of police your job is to enforce the law once an activist who spent time in the same prison as Nelson Mandela and survived an assassination attempt at the hands of the apari regime we've heard police selling guns police being involved in assassination plots it's systemic corrupt coruption what do you say to that I I I think the I I think it's exaggerated MH there are very very corrupt and dangerous dangerous cops but that number does not Surpise the number of the cour police that there are many good CS some of the things that we've heard is that the police have been um clearing the area for assassinations to take place uh rening their own uniforms for the Hitman to disguise themselves as police it's more than just corruption it's that they are actually actively involved in these killings in these assassinations and it's not denied so that you have knowledge that this is happening exactly no doubt about that people are dying in 2016 South Africa created a special task force to address its assassination crisis since then Becky Chell says 337 assassins have been arrested unfortunately among those people that you have arrested for those metals are 47 meals of the South African Police Service well that's an enormous number but that doesn't make you feel any safer to think that those are the people that have been arrested so you can only imagine how many are out there there have been of them not out of but it it would be unfair to say the government is not fighting back on the Scot we have everyone know are we doing something yes MH okay very fair Minister one more question um you have fought hard for democracy in this country you yourself were an activist you arrested while fighting for democracy in this country is this the Democracy that you envision when you have widespread and systemic corruption like you said but also when people try to fight it um they can be killed I spent time with uh uh this woman and it's a story I will never forget um her name is Johanna Peña I'm with Becky Chelly South Africa's minister of police her husband and her started exposing corruption within the government and started receiving death threats uh she went to the police gave them all the evidence the police did nothing and a few weeks later her husband was killed so what what would you say to people like Johanna and there are many of them out there well South Africa has a very high high degree of matters but there are many of them that have been prevented to be hit unfortunately those stories don't make their way to the media but so you know about this case I have heard about it yes because I think the message that it sends is more than just killing one person it sends a message of fear no you can't accept that that the efforts let me admit not adequate is not enough yes we have a problem but we are fighting It ultimately though fighting this black market is more difficult than most there's no product to bust no supply chain to track just a simple agreement between a corrupt client and a willing contractor desperate enough to be selling the unthinkable Joanna do you think that the the people that did this do you think they're aware of the what they did with the suffer they don't care they don't care they are just itat me they're just they're working and for them is to make money I don't even think of these people I don't want to lie I don't even remember their faces I'm just trying to live I'm just trying to survive I sense that the only way Jojo and some of the other Hitmen I've met can justify the savagery of their work is to convince themselves that they have no other choice that there's no going back whatever they're trying to make you see in the movies and all that just doesn't work like that so I got save my ass you got to remember that if I go to jail ain't nobody going to be there to feed me nobody going to be there to take care of me I got to take care of my own in time killing becomes the only thing they know whether that's in South Africa Mexico or Los Angeles would you want to get out of this if there was another way of making as much money honestly no why not it's got to the point I like it so you're not just saying this because we've got cameras you actually feel this way man I like it and I gotten real good at [Music] it in South Africa Hitman perform a traditional ritual bathing in Blood and bile to protect themselves from the spirits of the people they've murdered if there's one thing I'm afraid of that's hard uh feel bad thinking of my last days you know Judgment Day problems from the past to catch up to me if you kill somebody people are looking for you that's guaranteed I can't imagine choosing a life like the one JoJo has chosen assassins wield the power of life and death but they're also vulnerable Expendable and infinitely replaceable they are part of a culture of killing that grows in places where corruption and greed rule places that have little respect for the rule of law to be quite honest none of it is worth it you know I've had to run for years V to go in hiding it was not easy and I have been wanting to stop for a very long time but sometimes you're in too deep it's a vicious cycle when assassins kill they do more than silence a person they silence the truth instill fear embolden the corrupt and Powerful and leave the poor with fewer and fewer [Music] choices

Channel: National Geographic

Views: 1,355,036

Keywords: national geographic, nat geo, natgeo, animals, wildlife, science, explore, discover, survival, nature, culture, documentary, perpetual planet nat geo, photography, Dark world of assassins, Trafficked: Underworlds with Mariana van Zeller, Inside the underworld of assassins, Investigating the secret lives of assassins, trafficked by mariana van zeller, mariana van zeller, mariana van zeller investigates, full episode, black markets in the world, investigates, Dark world, Dark World of Assassins

Id: uu884SmwKFw

Length: 44min 20sec (2660 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 22 2024