Banged Up Abroad (rebadged as Locked Up Abroad in Asia and the United States, and Jailed Abroad in India, for the National Geographic Channel) is a British documentary/docudrama television series created by Bart Layton that was produced for Channel 5 and that premiered in March 2006. Most episodes feature stories of people who have been arrested while travelling abroad, usually for trying to smuggle illegal drugs, although some episodes feature people who were either kidnapped or captured while they were either travelling or living in other countries. Some episodes have featured real-life stories that first became well known when they were made the subject of a film: films that have been 're-made' in this way include Midnight Express, Goodfellas, The Devil's Double, Argo, Mr Nice and, to a lesser extent, Casino (with the story of Frank Cullotta). A few episodes have focused on undercover infiltrations of criminal syndicates by law enforcement agents or individuals recruited by them. Since 2006, there have been a total of 13 regular series, plus a special series called Kidnapped Abroad. The fifteenth series began airing in October 2022.

Episode format

The episodes typically contain a mixture of interviews with the real people and actors reconstructing the events. The convicted or captured are shown talking about their experiences, combined with dramatic reenactments of their respective experiences. The episodes focus on the events leading up to the arrest or time in captivity. In a few of the cases, at the end of the episode, the convicted are shown sitting with hand-cuffs on if they are still in prison. In most cases, the convicted or captured have returned home. In some episodes, the convicted or captured are shown revisiting the region in which the incident occurred.

Episodes

Series 1 (2006)

Series 2 (2007)

Series 3 (2008)

"Series 4 – Kidnapped" (2009)

In 2008, five additional episodes were produced, each one about a kidnapping, under the alternate title "Kidnapped Abroad."

Series 5 (2010)

Series 6 (2011)

Series 7 (2012)

Series 8 (2013)

Series 9 (2014)

Series 10 (2015)

Episode 1: Mexico/Plane Crash Marijuana Episode 2: Thailand/Thai Prison Hell Episode 3: Colombia/Bogota Belly Bust Episode 4: Somalia/Somali Pirate Hostage Hell Episode 5: Philippines/Jungle Terror Episode 6: Libya/Gaddafi's American Prisoner

Series 11 (2018)

Episode 1: Ecuador/Breaking Bad in Britain Episode 2: Syria/Escape from Al Qaeda Episode 3: Bolivia/Narco at Nineteen Episode 4: Sudan/Double Crossed in the Desert Episode 5: Mexico/Mexican Border Bust Episode 6: Colombia/Bad Bromance

Series 12 (2019)

Episode 1: Thailand/Thai Meth Bust Episode 2: Greece/Greek Border Bust Episode 3: Dominican Republic/Caribbean Coke King Episode 4: Mexico/Mexican Cartel Hell Episode 5: Argentina/Narco Wine Bust Episode 6: Thailand/Bangkok Betrayal Episode 7: Colombia/Jungle Crash Episode 8: Panama/Panamania Episode 9: India/Indian Hash Bust Episode 10: Peru/Peruvian Parent Trap

Series 13 (2020)

Episode 1: California/Undercover Biker After his arrest, drug dealer Charles Falco strikes a deal and becomes an undercover confidential informant. For the first time, Charles tells his story of how he infiltrated the Vagos, one of the most violent biker gangs in the US. Episode 2: South Korea/Thailand/Korean Ecstasy King In South Korea, English teacher Jesse Moskel becomes the kingpin of a huge MDMA smuggling operation – and one of Southeast Asia's most wanted men. Episode 3: Dominican Republic/Pop Star Smuggler Jimmy Bauer is on the cusp of breaking into the music industry and only one thing stands in his way. Money. He faces moral temptation and life-changing decisions, all as he works out what's more important to him. The fame? Or the music? Episode 4: India/Undercover Arms Dealer When legitimate arms dealer Peter Bleach is asked to supply weapons for a suspected Indian terrorist cell, he agrees to go undercover for British Intelligence to capture the ringleader. Episode 5: France/Model Drug Runner Garrain Jones moves to L.A and launches a modeling career. Soon he has it all – the money, the lifestyle, the status but he loses everything when he is drawn into a shadowy drug-smuggling operation from which he cannot escape. Episode 6: Ecuador/Drug Runner Mom Single mom Melanie Di Egidio is set up by her Colombian contact during her drug run to Ecuador. Caught by the police, she turns informer but is imprisoned anyway. In prison, she falls in love, marries a fellow inmate and gets pregnant. Episode 7: British Columbia/Washington/King of Weed Canadian hockey pro Ryan Phillips is destined to become a star but as he climbs the ranks, he starts running a more profitable business alongside his hockey career – smuggling hundreds of pounds of marijuana from British Columbia into the US. Episode 8: Colombia/Colombian Double Cross Single mom Heather Ebling's dream vacation to Colombia doesn't live up to expectations. Then disappointment turns to terror when on her way home she's arrested for drug trafficking. Episode 9: Peru/Peruvian Prison Break Tina Myers is an exotic dancer and part time drug dealer. After she decides to make money on a Peruvian drug run, she embarks on a dangerous ride to the dark side of Peru's underworld, culminating in an insane prison escape. Episode 10: Panama/Miami Mobster Take Down When Miami mobster Tony Galeota opens a club in Panama City, the competition frames him for drug dealing and human trafficking. Locked up in one of the world's worst prisons, Tony has to prove his innocence and attempt an audacious escape.

Series 14 (2021)

Episode 1: Mexico/Declassified: Mexican Cartel Takedown An ambitious DEA agent goes after a notorious Mexican cartel leader but gets sucked into a dark and treacherous world where the lines between good and evil are blurred. He'll stop at nothing to get his man, but when tragedy strikes, vengeance takes hold, and he makes a fatal mistake that tears his world apart. Episode 2: Australia/Meth's Top Model When swimwear model Simone Starr hits the big time, she moves to Hollywood to cash in. But life in the fast lane soon takes its toll on her finances and she decides the only way to keep the dream alive is to use her beauty brand as a ruse to ship drugs. By day she's pulling poses on the beach, and by night she's packing meth into gift sets, until one journey brings her whole world crashing down. Episode 3: New York/Brazil/Mafia Terminator In this real life Goodfellas tale, New York teen John Alite (portrayed by Dean Goldblum) gets a job at his local deli, a hangout for 'wise guys'. He soon finds himself wanting to be a mobster, and starts running errands for them. Rising swiftly through the ranks, John buries his conscience to become a notorious Mafia hitman for John Gotti. But when the house of cards tumbles, John must choose between his family and his oath to the Mob. Episode 4: Maryland/Declassified: Undercover Crack Dealer In this real-life version of Baltimore drama The Wire, local drug dealer Davon Mayer has a knack for making money. But when he gets arrested by two cops, to his surprise, they don't want him in jail, they want him to sell drugs for their profit. Davon soon finds himself enslaved by the corrupt cops' greed. The only way out is to risk his life and go undercover for the FBI to take them down. Episode 5: Thailand/Thai Ice Storm A broke young Londoner gets an exciting offer to work in his dad's bar in Thailand. But when he arrives, he soon discovers a world of temptation that he can not resist, breaking his father's golden rule and driving them apart. But when life goes from bad to worse for the youngster and he lands himself in the world's most notorious prison their relationship is tested to its limits. Episode 6: Nova Scotia/Declassified: A Rat's Tale When a lifelong gun runner and drug dealer infiltrates the Hells Angels biker gang for a million-dollar payout, he gets swept up in a horrific murder hit. Faced with a lifetime behind bars for his involvement, he has no choice but to go undercover for the RCMP, wearing a wire to collect confessions from his fellow conspirators. After 19 years in Witness Protection, with a bounty still on his head, career criminal Paul Derry tells his story for the first time on camera. Episode 7: Venezuela/The Mother's Load A young mom addicted to crack takes her child on a risky smuggling job. Episode 8: United States/Declassified: Mole in the Mob A Japanese-American Orange County kid gets his dream to become a gangster before a Las Vegas mob hit changes everything and he agrees to work for the FBI. Now Gangster turned informant he works his way up the world of organised crime infiltrating the heights of mafia royalty in New York, before a planned hit threatens to destroy his entire world. Episode 9: Bolivia/50 Ton Pot Run A 70s hippie and his naive pal are small time dealers selling hash to Boston college kids, until they get approached by a Colombian cartel keen to use their skills. Seduced by the danger and the dollars, they soon become multimillionaire importers, shipping tens of tons of marijuana on freighters up the West Coast, until one of the biggest busts in US history forces them on the run to Bolivia. Episode 10: Peru/A Bellyful of Coke A troubled young father goes on the run to Spain to avoid a small prison sentence. He starts working for a crime gang in the Costa Del Sol and is enamored by the gangster lifestyle. He feels untouchable and agrees to smuggle and swallow a kilo of cocaine back from Peru, only to face the biggest adrenalin kick of his life and seal his fate forever. Episode 11: “Captive in South America” Two groups of backpackers are kidnapped for ransom in South America.

Series 15 (2022)

Episode 1: Brazil/Love Behind Bars After smuggling drugs for 18 months, Anelda Mare decides to quit, only to be told her parents will be killed unless she makes one last run. Episode 2: United States/Declassified: Double Cross Dope Deal Lured into drug running by his best friend, Chris is betrayed by the one person he thought he could trust. Episode 3: Mexico/Narco Neverland A young Chicago gangster escapes from a life of poverty when he starts smuggling drugs for a Mexican cartel, but then it all goes wrong. Episode 4: Peru/Trauma Express Travel-loving Bronwyn Atherton finds herself on the road to destruction when she's lured into the shady world of international drug-smuggling. Episode 5: United States/Declassified: A King's Ransom Rafael Arguelles was a gangster by the age of 17, but faced the consequences after going undercover for the FBI against his former friends. Episode 6: Japan/Big Trouble in Tokyo Steven Beattie's Thai party lifestyle isn't cheap, so he smuggles hash to fund it, for which he pays the ultimate price when he's locked up in Japan. Episode 7: East Africa/Sole Smuggler David Harte was in his forties when life collapsed around him. He was tempted into the shady world of drug smuggling, then got caught in Mauritius. Episode 8: Thailand/Fighting Yaba Liverpudlian Billy Moore moves to Thailand to start a new, happier life, but instead he gets addicted to the drug Yaba and loses control. Episode 9: India/Casualty of War Veteran soldier Brett heads to India to overcome his PTSD, but instead is tempted into smuggling weed out of the Himalayas and into Europe. Episode 10: Australia/Dame of Cocaine Struggling addict Andrea starts importing cocaine into Australia. After getting caught, she is forced to overcome her demons in a tough jail.

International airings