Underworld, Inc.

7.2

2015•44m

The black market can be brutal, exploitative, corrupt. Nothing is off-limits; everything is for sale. And what you buy may not be what it seems. But it's an industry estimated to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S. alone. Join the suppliers, sellers, customers, and the law enforcement officials trying to keep it in check as they share their experience of a hidden world that touches us all.

Production

Seasons

6 Episodes • Premiered 2015

1. Ghost Guns

To get away with a crime, criminals look for completely untraceable guns. Enter the “ghost” gun: an exact replica with a fake serial number and no ballistic record — a gun that is potentially invisible to law enforcement.

2. Sex for Sale

The illegal, multibillion-dollar global sex trade includes brothels, massage parlors and online escort agencies and is one of the oldest professions. Take a look inside this illegal trade where pimps treat women as commodities — bought and sold, used and abused, then discarded.

3. Human Cargo

Mexican cartels dominate an extremely lucrative industry exporting undocumented migrants and squeezing them for cash. Thousands of Central Americans head north to the US border, lured by hopes for a brighter future, but people smugglers, who are often linked to cartels, make it difficult to cross without their supervision, and for a price.

4. Illegal Gambling

Millions of Americans love to gamble, but some forms of gambling are restricted or illegal, pushing them underground, where the rules are very different. Here, if you want to play you have to pay.

5. Knock-offs

Anything and everything can be faked: watches, purses, shoes, electronics, smartphones. Go underground to see the breathtaking enterprise and expertise of counterfeiting — an economy that turns over an estimated $500 billion a year.