Human Cargo (S01E03)

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. At crossing points such as Nogales, Mexico, networks of "coyotes" are waiting to get them across – once the migrants fork over thousands of dollars per person. At first it seems like a regular business – local stores even supply camouflaged clothing and water bottles. But if the migrants can't pay a second round of "fees" once they cross the border, people smuggling turns into people trafficking in a heartbeat. And once in the traffickers' clutches, the migrants become human cargo, held for ransom. Those who can't pay may find themselves sold to work off the debt — men as laborers, women as prostitutes. We get the story from the inside, in the words of the migrants and cartel foot soldiers. (National Geographic)