Undercover Asia
Season 5
February 1, 2018
8Episodes
Undercover Asia returns with a brand new season for the fifth year running. This multiple-award winning series continues to shine a light on some of the darkest corners of our society. This season, we travel across the US, South Korea, Philippines, and Bangladesh to investigate what could be the world's biggest heist - orchestrated from North Korea. We uncover sinister forces at work keeping Malaysian fishermen hooked on drugs, and Filipino miners risking it all for gold in illegal mining sites. We dig deep into Myanmarese society to understand why child bondage could be seen as acceptable, and how social media is changing all that. And from the depths of Indonesia's prisons, find out why convicted terrorist leaders continue to wield influence and power from behind bars. Uncover hard truths in the underbelly of Asia, and never look at the issue in the same way again.
Episodes
1. Dying For Gold
February 1, 2018
45 min
In the small town of Paracale in the Philippines, we uncover the dangerous and illegal world of small-scale gold mining. We witness how poor villagers risk their lives to plunge 30 feet underwater into narrow death trap pits as they search for gold – their only means of earning a living.
2. Adopted Into Slavery
February 8, 2018
46 min
Hidden behind locked doors, tortured and abused by their employers, child servants in Myanmar face many dangers. “Adopted into Slavery” investigates the murky trade of children sent away or sold into bondage by their parents, exposing the suffering faced by Myanmar’s most invisible and vulnerable.
3. Nicotine Kids
February 15, 2018
45 min
Big Tobacco provides jobs for millions of Indonesians, but these jobs come at a cost for hundreds of children working in tobacco fields. Child-workers like Geger, Aning, and Sisil suffer from the effects of nicotine poisoning and pesticides as they toil to supply to the wealthiest cigarette brands.
4. Hooked
February 22, 2018
45 min
For generations, drugs have plagued the fishermen on Malaysia's east coast. Is it the fishing culture, men making bad choices, or are there more sinister forces at play? Where are the drugs from? Will the authorities succeed in controlling the drug problem?
5. From Jail To Jihad
March 1, 2018
46 min
14 January 2016 – Jakarta was hit by the region’s very first ISIS attack. The men responsible were radicalised by Indonesia’s most radical cleric Aman Abdurrahman while in prison. In an exclusive interview, we hear from the radical cleric, who controls his extremist network from behind bars.
6. Degree Mill
March 8, 2018
48 min
Degree Mill exposes an epic scandal of fraud and exploitation. At its centre is Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh, the alleged mastermind behind the global sale of bogus degrees. Thousands of people have paid millions for worthless bits of paper. And some have used their fake degrees to get real jobs.
7. Heist
March 15, 2018
47 min
In Heist, we piece together the untold story of how cyber criminals stole US$81million from the Bangladesh government, transfer the money through fake bank accounts in Manila, and then make the money disappear on the gambling floors of high-end casinos in Philippines. Could a nation state be behind all this?
8. Fighting Slavery From Space
March 22, 2018
46 min
Space technology and slavery don’t often go hand-in-hand. One provides the freedoms of the information age, while the other signifies the ultimate lack of liberty. But a revolutionary use of satellite technology could be a breakthrough in tackling one of the world’s dirty hidden secrets.
