Undercover with Mariana van Zeller | Trafficked MEGA Episode | National Geographic

[♪ ominous music] [Mariana Van Zeller] There are hundreds of people here. Everywhere you look. You just see groups of people waiting. They're sitting with backpack. This was me, nearly 20 years ago on one of my first international assignments. [speaking Spanish] Maria! I don't believe it! How good. How are you? [speaking Spanish]. [Mariana Van Zeller] I was doing a story about migrants trying to make their way across Mexico and into the United States. The starting point for that journey was Tapachula. A chaotic little town on Mexico's southern border, where migrants hopped on board "La Bestia." La Bestia, or "The Beast," is what migrants called the dangerous freight trains they rode north for days on end. The train keeps on jerking. So, you, you have to keep a constant grip on the train, and it's hard. Back then, all you needed to reach the border was courage. These days, I'm told you need a whole lot more. Wow, this is so crazy. This looks nothing like it used to. This was the main train station, so you'd have hundreds of migrants here every single day, basically just hoping to get on the train to go north. The train tracks are no longer here, but the migrants, they still keep coming. They have to come through this, this area. Tapachula is still the first stop in Mexico for thousands of migrants, but the path north to the U.S. is now controlled by a violent criminal underworld. There's a new beast in town. [gunshots] [shouting] [Mariana Van Zeller] That's why I've come back. To try to get inside the most profitable migrant smuggling machine the world has ever seen. [theme music plays] [Mariana Van Zeller] So, this is the central square in Tapachula. The vast majority of the people that line up, that are around here at the square, are migrants. They all have backpacks, they have bags. There are so many, it's crazy. [Mariana Van Zeller] Years ago, migrants like these would hop ride on the train and continue north. But free rides are apparently no longer an option. [Mariana Van Zeller] But what happens to the migrants who do have money? What exactly are they buying into? That's what I want to understand, which is why I'm heading to meet a man I'm told is one of the key players in this new people-smuggling pipeline. I've been hearing about this guy for over a year now. There were a lot of times where we thought we were gonna finally meet him, a lot of false starts. It never happened until, hopefully, today. This is a big boss in this sort of operation. [dog barking] I think we're here. Let me know if you guys see anyone. Oh, yeah. Okay. I see him. I think that's him, yeah. [Mariana Van Zeller] We're calling him Jose, but his nickname on the street is "King Coyote", coyote being slang for a migrant smuggler. He works mostly with migrants from South and Central America, but has clients from as far away as India. [Mariana Van Zeller] Uh-huh. [Mariana Van Zeller] I've been reporting on the underworld for nearly two decades. This is the first time a black market operator has referred me to their finance department. certain that no one is making that kind of money smuggling anything in Mexico without, what you might call, "permission." [Mariana Van Zeller] Wow. [Mariana Van Zeller] From the cartels' perspective, I understand the logic of this new system. By allowing these transport companies to exist, it professionalized the business of people smuggling, making it more efficient and more lucrative. [Mariana Van Zeller] I had my doubts about the rosy picture he's painting of his operation, but I'm eager to learn more. And he agrees to connect me with one of his smugglers. A man responsible for transporting migrants from Tapachula, north towards Mexico city. We're heading to meet this contact and he's been incredibly nervous to talk to us. And he's very suspicious still, so we just, for all of our sake, just, you know, make him feel as comfortable as possible. I see him over there. So, just put the cameras down for a second and we can pick back up when he's inside the car. Camera down. Sure enough, he doesn't want to talk. I have to practically beg him to get into the car. But he finally does. I'm eager to hear what it's like on the frontlines of the people smuggling business. [♪ mysterious music] [Mariana Van Zeller] This man, who we'll call Ernesto, is part of a new breed of transport company making millions shuttling migrants across Mexico and into to the U.S. [Mariana Van Zeller] From there, he drives them north towards Mexico City. It's a bit shocking. His boss, King Coyote, told me they charge 12 grand per person, which seems like a lot for such inhumane treatment. [Mariana Van Zeller] Like his boss, he's quick to justify their approach. [Mariana Van Zeller] I'm doubtful about that, but I don't press him because I want to keep him talking. [Mariana Van Zeller] This description of the cartels' involvement sounds more threatening than King Coyote's version. I want to hear more, but I think talk of the cartels has spooked him. He cuts our interview short, after less than 20 minutes. Okay, so we just dropped off Ernesto. The interesting thing that we weren't able to film is that his wife was actually in the back seat in-between the two cameras. Apparently, they discussed and the only way that he'd feel comfortable talking to us was if she was present, as well. So, that was interesting. These are the trucks that he says they actually transport people in. That's exactly it. You know, it's really hard with these interviews, we were trying to make him comfortable, but it's always sort of a balance of how much you push and pushing too much will mean we'll lose access. So, we're hoping that we can ask more questions and see more of the operation in the following days. But more access to King Coyote's operation never arrives. So, we're stuck chasing access to other people-smugglers. Some with a very different pitch to migrants. We're heading to meet a guy, sort of involved in the migrant trade. There's a boat apparently waiting for us to take us to him. And they just told us to, you know, have our eyes wide open, ears wide open in this area because there is a lot of cartel presence here. [engine rumbling] Okay. I see. Yeah. There's a boat coming this way. He's, uh, yeah, he's coming right towards us. Yeah, so he's, uh, our guy is the guy wearing the mask and there's a bunch of people on the boat. It's a little awkward, he's not saying anything. From the looks of things, we're wading right into the middle of his business. [boat engine idling] [Mariana Van Zeller] I'm in Southern Mexico talking to a smuggler who's asked us to call him Pantera. [Mariana Van Zeller] Despite the cartels being paid off, these boats must run a gauntlet of armed opportunists. [Pantera] Uh-hmm. [Mariana Van Zeller] Her entire life's savings, spent on a gamble, that this little boat will make it to its destination. [Mariana Van Zeller] Just like those who travel by road, the boat will take these migrants north before they are shuttled to Mexico City. From there, they are stuffed like any other product into 18-wheelers, for a drive to the U.S. border that could take up to two days. It's a leg of the journey that has become synonymous with tragedy. [CNN Reporter] They have found 50 migrants dead inside a truck in San Antonio, what they now believe to be one of the deadliest smuggling incidents in U.S. history. [Mariana Van Zeller] These migrants sell everything they own for the chance to make it to the U.S., and this is how they're treated along the way. [Mariana Van Zeller] Uh-hm okay, they're saying they have to go, because the sun is going down. They have to start their journey. [Mariana Van Zeller] What's becoming clear is that the people doing the actual work of smuggling migrants, people like Pantera and the transporter I met in the car, know the details of their job, but not much more. It's only bosses like King Coyote that are familiar with the actual terms of this ugly business. [Mariana Van Zeller] Thinking back to our conversation, what's still unclear is this, even if companies like King Coyote's, have learned how to work with the cartels, how could they possibly move thousands of migrants past so many police? [Mariana Van Zeller] So this guy we're meeting is very nervous. We were supposed to meet him at a train station. He's moved locations on us a few times already. And it's understandable why he's nervous. He's essentially a whistleblower who's going to be talking to us about corruption within the government. [Mariana Van Zeller] I'm talking to a federal immigration agent turned whistleblower, who we'll call Miguel. He says it works like this, on every route north, there are dozens of checkpoints. Migrants who have hired a cartel-approved company like King Coyote's, are able to pass through without getting hassled. That's part of what their $12,000 ensures. [Mariana Van Zeller] On the other hand, migrants attempting the journey on their own, like the Venezuelan family I met in Tapachula, are forced to pay small bribes at every checkpoint along the way. [Mariana Van Zeller] It's a system designed to maximize the exploitation of desperate people, while simultaneously enriching both the cartels and corrupt government officials. [Mariana Van Zeller] Sadly, this sort of collusion between the cartels and the Mexican State isn't new. [Reporter] Caught on tape, Mexican police apparently carrying out orders for gangsters. [Mariana Van Zeller] It's been a problem in Mexico for decades now. So much so, that just this year, Mexico's former head of public security was found guilty of drug trafficking. This is the type of power that the cartels wield throughout the country. [Mariana Van Zeller] Uh-hmm. The immigration officer's accusations hang in the air as I head towards the border. The stories the Venezuelans told me suddenly make much more sense. [Mariana Van Zeller] I've kept in touch with the Venezuelans. And the last I've heard, they were able to slip past the authorities and hitch a ride north on one of the trains. Riding La Bestia is apparently still an option, but much less common. Which makes sense, considering all the vested interests in the new system. [Mariana Van Zeller] After almost two weeks on the road, I finally arrived at Mexico's northern border. It's the last leg of the journey and we've gained access to yet another transport company, run by a rival of King Coyote's, a man who calls himself Zorro. So, we got a call from Zorro. Apparently, there's a group of a few migrants that have just arrived. They're going to cross to the U.S. soon. And he's given us this address for this stash house where the migrants are staying before they cross the border [Mariana Van Zeller] Okay. Around the corner. It's around the corner from here. Okay. [Man] Walkie-talkies down. Walkie-talkies and cameras down. [Man] And camera down. Let's do it quickly. [Mariana Van Zeller] Yeah. So get out? Okay. So they're saying right now. [distant sirens] [♪ dramatic music] witnessing one of the last hurdles for migrants on this side of the border, the final payment before crossing, which is split between the transport company and the cartel. [Mariana Van Zeller] Um... He says he's going to make a phone call to his family, because he's the only one who hasn't paid yet. And, uh, he wants to ask them when the money is coming in. [Mariana Van Zeller] The subtext of that last bit was chilling, but also easy to miss, "I want my brother here. We want him here with family." In other words, please don't hurt him. [Mariana Van Zeller] I'm in a stash house in northern Mexico, not far from the border, where migrants are held captive until their payment is delivered. [Mariana Van Zeller] We depart. According to King Coyote, these sorts of confrontations are common on both sides of the border. the thinly veiled threats, I'm told that later that evening Angel's sister came through with the money. He'll be crossing with the others in the coming days. The next morning, I meet up with Zorro again. He's transporting a different group across the border; migrants who've already paid their part. Super tight quarters here, we have a driver. Zorro sitting next to me here too in the front row. And then four migrants are in the back of the truck. Uh, we are heading to the drop off point, it's about a 20-minute drive, where everyone will get out of the car and the journey across the desert starts for them. [Mariana Van Zeller] The migrants slip through a rickety barbed wire fence and begin walking. But once they cross, they'll face another one to three days of hiking through the Sonoran desert, until they reach their pickup location. [sirens] [Mariana Van Zeller] As for what happens to migrants on the other side of the border. You don't have to look too hard. Even TikTok provides clues. Black market transport companies post ads recruiting drivers. They're looking for Americans willing to shuttle migrants from the border into urban centers, where they can effectively disappear. Drivers make thousands of dollars per trip, if they can make it past U.S. Law enforcement. [Cop] What we're trying to do is position ourselves at choke points. I'm, uh, right here at Pearce and 191. Where we believe that they're going to have to come through us in order to get to their final destination. [Mariana Van Zeller] We spent one night with the Cochise County, Arizona sheriff's department. And witnessed the chaos firsthand. [Cop] He's gonna run. We are northbound. Driver, step out of the vehicle and face away from me! Be advised, as soon as I activated my lights, the vehicle is not stopping. Driver, stick your hands out the window! Put your hands behind your back. How many more do you got inside the car? arrests may seem like a win for law enforcement. [Cop] You have the right to remain silent. Anything that you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to talk to a lawyer and have them present... [Mariana Van Zeller] But the reality is that each year, thousands of migrants get through. And the ones who don't will often try again. In a nutshell, that's why the people-smuggling business is booming. Because for the world's most vulnerable people, the dream of living in America is only available on the black market. In case you're wondering, the Venezuelan migrants I spoke with crossed the border in May of 2023, after an eight-month journey through seven countries. They surrendered to authorities in Texas and are currently living in the U.S. And awaiting an asylum hearing, along with nearly 1.6 million others. MARIANA: I've been investigating drug traffickers for over 15 years. Often I'm a lone female journalist surrounded by masked criminals, 99% of whom are men. It's starting to boil and the crystal is starting to form at the top. But recently, I've heard tales of a new breed of narco-trafficker. Women. MARIANA: Rumor has it these brash "Cocaine Queens" are helping revolutionize the multi -billion dollar drug business. And I'm on a mission to find them. MARIANA: We'll call my driver "Luis." He's a Rio native whose family has connections to the city's (speaking native language). MARIANA: The woman I'm searching for is definitely earning it. She calls herself "Hello Kitty." Just 21-years-old, she's one of the most wanted drug traffickers in all of Brazil. MARIANA: The prime suspect in multiple armed robberies and murder. And a rising cocaine distributor for one of the country's most powerful drug gangs. And my sources say she's holed up in Rio's favelas. The slums and shanty towns that house more than 1.5 million people. Nearly a quarter of the city's population. So, we're entering the favela right now. I have to stop, because there's these barriers that exist at the entrance. If anyone is trying to invade, it will slow down any invasion by the police or rival gangs. So, this is the things that you have to do when you enter the favela. Turn on the lights. You see that the hazard lights are on. LUIS: Stop, stop, stop, stop. MARIANA: Stop? Okay. Put the, down, down. Cameras down. Cameras down. MARIANA: When Brazilians boast that, "God made the world in six days, and the seventh, he devoted to Rio de Janeiro," they're not talking about the favelas. They're talking about this. But there's a flip side to these sugarcoated pictures. A kind of tale of two cities. Extreme poverty fuels Brazil's black markets. So much so, that today, after the United States, Brazil is the world's largest cocaine consumer. I've lived in Rio and have spent time in many favelas. Places where crack, weed, cocaine and other illegal substances are sold out in the open. To safeguard the drug market, these slums are protected by criminal gangs and their gatekeepers. People like this woman. MARIANA: It's rare to see a woman in a role like this. But here I am, talking with this gang member in front of her kids. MARIANA: She tells me to call her Perigosa, which means dangerous. MARIANA: Perigosa's job is to oversee a 24-hour surveillance network, comprised of 21 look-outs, called Radinhas, Portuguese for the "Little Radios." They are the eyes and ears of the narco-traffickers. Favelas are like fiefdoms, most are controlled by powerful gangs. Perigosa's people monitor all entries and exits, so they can alert the gang leadership of any invasion by rivals or cops. Despite her key position, Perigosa is judged by her neighbors. MARIANA: Perigosa tells me that the women who truly rise through the ranks are the ones who put down their walkie-talkie and pick up a gun. And if I want to find a cocaine queen like Hello Kitty, I need to get closer to the product. It's time to pound the pavement. Luis' uncle was a founding member of the country's oldest drug gang, Comando Vermehlo, The Red Command. The same gang Hello Kitty is said to work for. I think it's here. So, that's where we start. MARIANA: I shouldn't be surprised. Rio is a city of some 7 million people, and The Red Command has many factions. It's not easy finding one woman. Even after the gang has opened their doors to me. MAESTRO: Hello Kitty. MARIANA: I'll take the maestro's word for it. He's a 60 year old career criminal who now cuts cocaine for Comando Vermelho, The Red Command. One of three trafficking organizations that controls all of the cocaine in Brazil. What I'm discovering is that over the past two decades, Brazil leveraged its location, bordering every coca producing country to become a global distributor. While Mexico's cartels move cocaine into the United States, Brazil's gangs are now the top suppliers to Europe and Africa. But a lot of this powder remains right here, to satisfy the growing appetites of Rio's rich and poor. They have this little spoon and they basically put the cocaine inside these little bags. And this sells for five reais, which is currently worth a dollar. And it's mostly sold in this neighborhood and neighborhoods around here. It's possible the cocaine I'm looking at will be sold by Hello Kitty herself. She works for the same gang as these guys. So he was actually in prison recently, and he's saying that even in prison, they talked about her a lot. That she was really good, she's a really good soldier. MARIANA: Maestro believes that today's women have a unique advantage, the element of surprise. Cops still assume that cocaine traffickers look like Pablo Escobar, not like Hello Kitty. He says that the police is really targeting the men here. Um, so, there's not gonna be a lot of men around to do this kind of work. So, it'll be up to the women to do it. MARIANA: This is not Hello Kitty. I'm still working my way up Comando Vermelho's chain of command, but she is proof that while women don't yet rule Rio's cocaine market, there are far more female narcos than I ever imagined. MARIANA: She calls herself "Bayern" after her favorite soccer team. Just 25 years old, Bayern came up in the gang as cocaine was expanding its reach throughout Brazil. Now, she's a soldado; a narco-soldier who provides security for the Red Command. I have to admit, I'm impressed. Like Hello Kitty, she's a woman who isn't just breaking the glass ceiling, she's literally shooting her way through it. MARIANA: A glock. BAYERN: Yeah. MARIANA: Wow. You see that? She's showing me the bullet hole. The bullet came through this side and came out of this side. These shootouts with law enforcement have become all too common. As cocaine exploded throughout the country, so did gang violence. Today, Rio's police response involves helicopter-borne snipers, with shoot-to-kill orders. In 2019, the police here killed over 1,800 people. That's five people a day. Nearly twice the number killed by cops in the entire United States. Still, the traffickers I've met seem to take this violence in stride. MARIANA: Salvation. That depends on a person's point of view. And tonight, I'll have the chance to ask Hello Kitty herself. My Red Command contacts have finally come through. We're scheduled to meet her on her turf. Okay, rom what we've heard, she's going to be actually waiting for us in the inside of this favela, so we're driving deeper and deeper. MARIANA: So please, please, please do not put the cameras up, he's asking. When we arrive at the rendezvous point, Luis receives new intel from his underworld sources. So, not good news. Um, apparently, we were told she was waiting for us, but then we got here, and apparently she's gone. And, uh, it's, uh, we're being told that there is going to be a police operation here tomorrow. MARIANA: They found out through an informant they have at the police, and so when that happens and the word spreads, they go out and they start hiding everything. They're going to hide the guns and the drugs, and that's what apparently has happened tonight. And that's where, she's disappeared and no one can find her. Unfortunately, the trail goes cold. Dead cold. The police operation took place the following day and we never re-engaged with Hello Kitty. Just a few weeks later, we received word that Hello Kitty and her father were killed in a gun battle with Rio's police. Yes, she was an unapologetic cocaine queen, but she was also twenty-one years old and a mother of two children. Cocaine has transformed Brazil's black market and its players, but in the end, I never got to meet the female narco boss I'm searching for. So, I head to the source, the world's biggest cocaine producer, to locate a rumored narco-queen the cops and criminals are all trying to kill. MARIANA: So you've been in touch with these people? I mean, they know that we're coming? MARIANA: The man riding shotgun is Oliver Schmieg, a local photojournalist who once helped me gain access to the cocaine highway, the 3,000 mile journey smugglers take to move their product from the mountains of South America to Miami Beach. Now, we're trying to track down a female narco named "Sonia," who's rumored to be the second in command of one of Colombia's newest criminal cartels, Los Caparros. What do you guys know about her, this woman? MARIANA: The boss of the assassins? OLIVER: Yeah. MARIANA: Astonishing is an understatement. You see, for five decades, Colombia has been the world's biggest cocaine producer. This multi-billion dollar black market was dominated by one man. The king of cocaine, Pablo Escobar. Throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s, Escobar's Medellin cartel controlled every link in their global supply chain, from production to distribution. But when the kingpin was gunned down in 1993, his cartel crumbled. The cocaine business, however, did not. It simply evolved. Today, Colombia produces more powder than ever. But the big cartels have splintered into smaller rival gangs, which means more competition and violence. To fight back against the new generation of narcos, the Colombian government offers money to local farmers to burn their crops. MARIANA: Rumor has it Sonia murdered one of these farmers, and then ordered her men to leave his body on display for ten days. It feels very much like we're entering the heart of darkness here. MARIANA: The man holding the phone is Ivan Vasquez, a former Colombian special forces soldier and our security advisor for the region. The voice on the other end is our contact inside Sonia's gang. MARIANA: The region we're in is called Bajo Cauca. In 2019, it had a murder rate on par with Tijuana, Mexico, the most violent city in the world. Just weeks ago, eight teenage soccer players traveling through here were taken hostage. OLIVER: They got kidnapped by the same gang we are supposed to meet, by Los Caparros. Three got freed, one they found dead already. MARIANA: So they were, wait, they were kidnapped by the same people we are meeting? MARIANA: And is there any guarantee that these people are meeting us and that they're not going to kidnap us? Do we... OLIVER: Well, there's no guarantee. I mean, you are under the control of a criminal gang. There is a risk to get kidnapped. MARIANA: Okay. And that's when our contact calls back, with a meeting point. Instead of finding Sonia, we're picked up along the way by a pair of her Sicarios, professional hitmen, who order us to follow them. Though 50% of Bajo Cauca's residents live in poverty today, the Spanish conquistadors knew there was tremendous wealth to be found here, hidden underground. As we follow the Sicarios into this mining operation, I assume this is where we'll find Sonia. Instead, we discover the men are taking us on a shakedown. MARIANA: Sonia's Sicarios want us to leave immediately, but I want to know more about what's happening here. MARIANA: Before I can ask more questions, my crew alerts me that the gunmen are on the phone with Sonia, herself. MARIANA: It seems I've overstayed my welcome. While her gunmen lead us away from the mine. MARIANA: Ivan gets a concerning call from his local security sources. Over the past 24 hours, there have been multiple gun fights between local gangs, with six people confirmed killed. So this area right now, he was saying, is super, super hot. It seems like every gang in Bajo Cauca wants a piece of the pie. And they're willing to kill for it. MARIANA: He's gonna check all the cars, make sure that there's no one else there or any guns. He's also getting all the guns from our security guys, um, disarming everybody. And no cell phones allowed in. Once they take our cell phones, they order us to follow them. It's time to meet their leader, "La Comandante," the commander. You see, he just handed the money to him, and he's the only one who's able, um, to approach her, the woman. And he's about to give her the money. It's amazing though, she's the one really giving the orders here, huh? MARIANA: In my many years of investigating narco-traffickers, this is the first time I've encountered a woman who wields so much power over violent, well-armed men. (speaking native language) Eventually, I'm permitted to approach Sonia. MARIANA: Whoa, okay, so she's not happy apparently, because there's not enough money. It's not the money that she was promised. MARIANA: Oh, apparently, there's like another group close by, and they're getting scared. Okay, guys, really. For real, now we have to go. MARIANA: Sonia's bodyguards rush her to safety. NACHO: Go. MARIANA: While they prepare for an imminent attack. Oh, my God, the guy's got his gun, he just, you know, it's serious when they start freaking out. MARIANA: My film crew and I are embedded with a gang of cocaine traffickers and a rival cartel is closing in. MARIANA: (bleep) Okay. The mine where we were just now filming, there was another rival group that came in, armed, so that things are definitely not safe, because this could be the next spot they target. Hopefully this is open, yeah. MARIANA: No. MARIANA: He started hearing gunshots right where we came from. MARIANA: As we flee the gang's compound, I realize I know next to nothing about their female commander, a woman who every rival gang in Bajo Cauca seems to want dead. Narcotrafficking is a man's world, traditionally. Almost never do you see a woman occupy a position of power, like Sonia. While there have been a few confirmed gangster queens in recent history, often exaggerated by Hollywood, the women I typically interview are low-level drug mules. But maybe these changes in the black market shouldn't be so surprising. The fight for equality in the legal market has been happening for generations. I imagine something similar must be taking place inside organized crime. Still, how does a 21-year-old woman end up a cartel commander? MARIANA: The morning after the attack, I discover Sonia's not just alive, she's willing to finally talk. It turns out it was the Clan Del Golfo that led the attack. You can film. They're Sonia's main rival and the biggest drug traffickers in the region with alleged links to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. MARIANA: Sonia is young, but so is her group, Los Caparros. They're one of the newest gangs competing for Colombia's cocaine profits, supposedly created by former right wing paramilitaries who abandoned politics and embraced crime. MARIANA: Sonia tells me that like most people Bajo Cauca, she grew up in poverty. When she was 12, her father was murdered by a local paramilitary gang. Sonia went looking for revenge, but never found it. What she found instead was love. At 16 years old, she fell for the regional commander of Los Caparros. A man who had grown up poor, like her. MARIANA: Against her mother's wishes, Sonia ran away, got pregnant, and gave birth to the commander's children. MARIANA: Respect. It's something Sonia earned during her initiation, when the cartel kidnapped a disabled man and ordered her to kill him. MARIANA: Despite everything I've witnessed covering black markets, it's hard to stomach the details of Sonia's rise to power. MARIANA: A part of me wants to view Sonia's story as an act of empowerment, but all I see is a woman who's been transformed from a victim of Colombia's violence to one of its chief perpetrators. MARIANA: Cocaine, it remains Colombia's most enduring and profitable black market. MARIANA: And Sonia is going to show me how she maintains control of her gang's coca plantation. We're essentially surrounded by coca fields and, uh, illegal gold mines. This is also sort of, you know, the birthplace of narco-trafficking. Pablo Escobar, the Medellin cartel, the cocaine that was produced, it was, it all came from these hills, from this area. In fact, reports from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime suggest that 70% of all the coca planted in 2017 came from Colombia, from areas just like this. MARIANA: Her hitmen inform me that there are snipers hidden throughout the hills. Oh, wow. It's not long after that I finally see it. The crown jewel of Sonia's power. MARIANA: Producing cocaine, surprisingly, isn't complicated. Coca leaves are picked by hand, then mulched together, then mixed with cement, gasoline, and other chemicals to produce a raw coca paste. In the past, most of this product was sent north, to the US. But more and more paste is now heading south, to the burgeoning Brazilian market I just came from. These local farmers are paid to feed this growing global demand, though they have little choice. There's a saying in this region, "Whoever does not sow, has to go." 30 years ago, Pablo Escobar controlled all the coca grown around here. Today, Sonia helps manage some 30,000 acres. But Los Caparros are outnumbered and out-gunned by rivals. They need fresh soldiers and they need them fast. MARIANA: Recruited. It means something very different in this region. Many Caparros members are actually kidnapped. They're not volunteers. They're victims. MARIANA: The case of the eight teenage soccer players who recently disappeared in Bajo Cauca shocked millions of Colombians. But Sonia knows what happened to the players, because she was the one who ordered their kidnapping. MARIANA: Despite everything she's told me, I'm still shocked to learn that many of Sonia's narco-soldiers are innocent young men her gang kidnapped. MARIANA: These horrors are all in the service of the product. Another kilo of coke is ready for transport. That's when Sonia's bodyguards tell her she, too, must go. With so many rivals, they can't allow their commander to remain in one place for long. She's the boss. She's the most valuable thing here. If she gets killed, then the guys that are in charge of her protection will probably get killed as well. MARIANA: A part of me really wants these ambitious women to succeed. And why not? For far too long, it's been mostly men profiting from the multi-billion dollar drug trade. Of course despite his riches, even Pablo Escobar died in a hail of gunfire on a rooftop in Medellin. MARIANA: Just weeks after I left, the Colombian military killed the leader of Los Caparros and captured one of his chief lieutenants. Sonia's lover and the father of her children. MARIANA: Seven of the eight kidnapped teenagers were freed. MARIANA: And the remaining members of Los Caparros are on the run, including Sonia, whose whereabouts are unknown. Today, the Colombian government has declared the gang "thoroughly dismantled." Narcos come and go, that's part of the deal. Live fast, die young. But more and more, the black market often reflects trends in the legal one. It's like a dark mirror. So, it's perhaps not surprising that women are pushing for equality in the most ruthless workplace of all. MARIANA: And they're either desperate enough or crazy enough to do the unthinkable in their pursuit of money and power. Progress can be a bitch. ♪ Don't take no prisoners. ♪ ♪ Powerful from head to toe. ♪ ♪ If you've seen us, then you already know. ♪ (overlapping chatter) MARIANA: Your classic American barbeque. Perfect weather. Meats on the grill. And a backyard full of friends. But this is not your typical summer get together, because this is Dr. Tony Huge's house. MARIAH: Tony. We're ready for you, dude. MARIANA: And performance-enhancing drugs are at the ready. TONY: Yeah! MARIANA: Tony Huge is the face of a movement that believes performance-enhancing drugs, like steroids, can turn everyday people... TONY: Friends of Freedom. Pioneers of human evolution. MARIANA: Into superhumans. TONY: Instead of using medicine to make us average, we can use medicine to make us evolve. MARIANA: Tony's fans say his drugs make you feel like a god. MAN: I don't wanna be average. Whatever I can do to keep excelling, I'll do it. MARIANA: But are the authorities closing in? INTERROGATOR: You have no formal medical training whatsoever, correct? MARIANA: And are the dreams he's selling... TONY: 100% legal. No side effects. MARIANA: Actually nightmares? THOMAS: Being superhuman on steroids is part of the game. But the reality is, you can't be superhuman forever. And your heart doesn't wanna be superhuman. MARIANA: So they're playing with fire? THOMAS: They're playing 100% with fire. a story about the next generation of steroids. And the man behind the needle. Do you think everybody should be taking steroids? TONY: Absolutely. MARIANA: When I started investigating the underground explosion of steroids in America, there is one name I heard over and over again. TONY: Dr. Tony Huge. Dr. Tony Huge here. Where in the world is Dr. Tony Huge, update? MARIANA: Dr. Tony Huge. Hi. TONY: Mariana. MARIANA: Reporting for duty, Tony. TONY: Yes. Welcome. You now get to see the behind the scenes of how we actually build muscle, besides the drugs. Although there might be some of that involved as well. OPRAH: Did you ever take banned substances to enhance your cycling performance? LANCE: Yes. MARIANA: Performance-enhancing drugs are notorious for causing scandals at the highest levels of sports. But these days, people like Tony Huge are bringing experimental versions of those same drugs to the masses. TONY: I'm gonna show you what we do before our workouts as bodybuilders. MARIANA: Just minutes after I arrive, Tony invites me and a handful of his "guinea pigs," his words, not mine, into a locker room. TONY: You know, they wouldn't do it openly. We'll get kicked out of the gym if there's people around. This is generic Chinese growth hormone. This is an underground testosterone. All right, Akaash, I'm loading your needle. You want testosterone? Do you need test? TONY: This is actually an extremely potent prototype. A half cc would... AKAASH: Oh, let's do it, let's do it, like... TODAY: Okay. One quarter. MARIANA: Ah, it looks like a big needle that I wouldn't wanna stick on myself. Yeah. It's much bigger than I thought and thicker too. TONY: So, now, this is Molly's shot. In one month, she can make about a year and a half worth of muscle-building progress. MARIANA: And why are you doing this? MOLLY: I've always had insecurities, like, with my body, with myself. So it slowly but surely does help you gain that confidence. MARIANA: Yeah, I'm feeling the pressure right now guys. I'm feeling really tiny and terrible here. I feel so out of shape right now. Dr. Tony Huge is a larger-than-life figure in the world DIY performance-enhancing drugs. You're Dr. Tony Huge. Where did you get your medical degree from? TONY: I don't have a medical degree. I'm a Doctor of Jurisprudence. Contact us at Hughes Financial Law today. I'm a lawyer. Retired lawyer. Yo soy Antony Hughes, le puedo ayudar en Espanol. It's quite fortunate for the audience that I'm not an actually medical doctor because if I was, they would take my license for teaching the things that I do. MARIANA: Tony is evangelical about the power of anabolic drugs. TONY: I love steroids. I think before I came on the scene, steroids were an even greater taboo, so I've sort of made steroids cool. Steroids. Steroids. Steroids. I use them all the time in mega doses. And I don't think it's a bad thing. Be swell and swole, friends of freedom, pioneers of human evolution. MARIANA: Dr. Tony Huge is a fitness influencer, a new type of social media star who posts workout photos and advice. ZAC (over phone): Now you and I have talked about getting ready for shows. And this time, what I can do, with some of these new compounds that you've come out with... MARIANA: Tony spends hours every day talking to people like Zac, a 22-year-old bodybuilder prepping for a competition. TONY: Okay. Let's do it. Let's keep you healthy and get you in the best condition you've ever been in, my friend. ♪ ("Move Pon Bakka" by Tambor Battant Feat. Brail) ♪ MARIANA: So when did you start taking steroids? MARIAH: Uh, steroids? I actually started taking about two years ago. I didn't know I was taking them. Someone told me they were vitamins. MARIANA: Who? Who? Like a friend or? MARIAH: It was an ex-boyfriend. MARIANA: And then when you found out, were you angry or? MARIAH: No, because I liked the results that I got from them. MARIANA: Back at Tony's house, his friends are open about using steroids. SOLDIER: If you're someone who's deploying all the time, or you're in a specialist operations career field, we don't get down days. MARIANA: That includes a member of US Special Forces. SOLDIER: We're hiking the tallest mountains, we're in the hottest deserts. Pretty much perform like a superhuman. And when it's a life or death situation, it's a small price to pay to take performance-enhancing drugs to be able to get back home to my family. MARIANA: Who contacts you about steroids? TONY: Everyone. Teenagers all the way up to old ladies. I kid you not. And everywhere in between. Police, 40-year-old female, house moms that are using them to get in better shape. MARIANA: Do you still take steroids now? WOMAN: I do in the sense of if I wanna get ready for Halloween, I wanna body paint. MARIANA: Uh-hmm. WOMAN: So for me to be able to body paint after three kids, instead of me doing a cabbage soup diet. MARIANA: Uh-huh. WOMAN: I wanna look strong and feel strong... WOMAN: And not to (bleep) up my metabolism. MARIAH: Everyone has their poison, whether it's smoking, or alcohol, or hardcore opiates, and you know, things like that. Pick your poison and that's the one I chose. MARIANA: Tony is happy to give away performance-enhancing drugs at his party. But how do everyday people normally get their hands on them? Do you know where the steroids you take, do you know where they're coming from? SOLDIER: It depends. You don't wanna tell me? SOLDIER: Not at all. MARIANA: So the anabolic's that you take, where are those coming, where is it coming from? MARIAH: Our source asked not to be named. WOMAN: Um, I wouldn't say. MARIANA: You don't wanna say? WOMAN: No. MARIANA: See, I've spoken to several people here and nobody wants to tell me where from. Why is that? SOLDIER: Well, I don't know you, and it's a small community, and you're dealing with stuff that can potentially put other people in jail. Can you just tell me if they come from overseas or they're domestic? Here's the thing, I don't really take no for an answer. So, after a few off-camera conversations with Tony, he agrees to show me where underground steroids come from. Yeah. This is where he told us to meet him. Not where you'd think they'd be doing steroids and human experiments, you know. I see this light over there. (engine approaches) Tony Huge, right here. So, you're, it's not, is it here? TONY: No, it's not here. I'm gonna take you to it because the experiments that we do are kind of underground. You're not supposed to experiment on humans and you're not supposed to be making some of these compounds the way we do. And that's a lot of risk to me and the people I work with. MAN: Yes. Yes. TONY: Thank you. MARIANA: When you mentioned an underground lab, I definitely wasn't expecting something, so. It looks, it looks like a real lab. TONY: Well, it has to be clean and it has to have all the tools that we need for any given experiment. MARIANA: The DEA and FDA are the federal agencies with oversight on steroid use. They often make news for busting underground labs. ANCHOR (over TV): DEA agents raided the facility. REPORTER (over TV): A massive illegal drug operation. Homemade drugs are especially dangerous to anyone who uses them. MARIANA: Aren't you scared they could come after you? TONY: Yeah, everything, they did. They did. MARIANA: Tony is the face of Enhanced Athlete, a supplement company that was raided by the FDA in 2017. That same year, Enhanced Athlete was accused in a civil lawsuit of selling products not approved for human consumption. INTERROGATOR: You said you've got a doctorate of laws? You don't, you don't really think it allows you to call yourself a doctor, do you? TONY: Yes. I was under investigation for many years and they were surveilling me and, and my CEO ended up in, in jail. ANCHOR: This is New Tonight. A Sacramento man was sentenced to three years in prison today for selling fertilizer disguised as fat-burning pills. MARIANA: And you guys were making that here? TONY: That's what Scott was prosecuted for. MARIANA: Why are you still here? And why's he in prison? TONY: Because I never made money from any of this. I was a lawyer. I sold my law firm and I took that money and I invested it into research. MARIANA: Tony claims that for him, developing new drugs is merely a passion project, albeit, a risky one. So why do you let us film in here? Why do you let us come here? TONY: Because there's, there's a risk versus benefit. This is my passion. I retired from law to further the chemistry of bodybuilding. Instead of just using we can use medicine to continue to enhance us, MARIANA: And who make, do you actually make all of this or who makes this? TONY: Coach Trevor is our lead chemist. Hey, Coach Trevor! MARIANA: Coach Trevor is Tony's secret weapon. TREVOR: Hey. How's it going? MARIANA: How are you? I'm Mariana. TREVOR: Trevor. Nice to meet you. MARIANA: Nice to meet you. The two are incredibly close, with an almost brotherly bond. This is your lab? TREVOR: This is it. This is ground zero. MARIANA: And they have a shared passion for creating new TONY: Coach Trevor and I have gone over the protocol. What I'm gonna start with is 50 milligrams per day. MARIANA: Tony was saying that you're the main chemist. TREVOR: I think they call it chef. MARIANA: Sort of Breaking Bad kind of a thing? TREVOR: No, meth, no. MARIANA: Trevor is obsessed with the chemistry behind steroids. He even has the chemical structure for testosterone tattooed on his hand. TREVOR: This is my favorite hormone. First one I ever made. MARIANA: The first one you made in a lab? TREVOR: Uh-hmm. MARIANA: Trevor says he's permanently mutated his body through years of experimental steroid use. TONY: So Trevor's arms are just around 21 inches. Mine are around 19 inches. MARIANA: And mine are around, half an inch. Despite the imposing exterior, Trevor sees himself as a science nerd at heart. If you wanted to, what drugs can you make right now? TREVOR: Actually, it'd be easier to name what I couldn't make. Could you make cocaine? TREVOR: Yeah. MARIANA: Can you make heroin? TREVOR: Yeah. Very simple. MARIANA: Do you know how to make fentanyl? TREVOR: Yeah. That's, yeah. MARIANA: Do you know how to make meth? TREVOR: Yes. MARIANA: If you can make any drug in the world, why are you making anabolic's? TREVOR: Because I could sell steroids to a lawyer. He's happy and it improves his life. If it's not hurting you, why not? MARIANA: Is what you're doing dangerous? TREVOR: Yeah, yeah... TONY: Sometimes, really bad things do happen. And, and afterwards, we sometimes say we're never gonna do another experiment. MARIANA: In a recent experiment, Tony says he overdosed on a banned dietary supplement, and he then vomited for two days straight. TONY: But we are addicted to the science and pioneering, and we do, we do continue experimenting even after bad things happen. MARIANA: The raw chemicals that you use here, where did those come from? TREVOR: Almost everything comes from China now. MARIANA: Because these chemicals are often on the DEA's list of banned substances, companies in China have found inventive ways to sneak them past customs. TREVOR: Here's one. MARIANA: Disguised as food. It looks like flour, right? MARIANA: And so a lot of it is actually coming out. So it's not dangerous that it's all over my hands, is it? No? TREVOR: Yeah, actually... No, it's not. Nah, I don't wanna bust.. MARIANA: Today, Trevor and Tony are developing a new, injectable version of a drug called "ASARM" TONY: A Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator. So, potentially the future of steroids, all the benefits without the side effects. MARIANA: And this is illegal? TONY: This is illegal to sell to a human as a supplement. It is legal to possess. It is legal to use. MARIANA: People are using the stuff that you guys are making here in this lab.... are using this. TONY: Yes, they are using these formulas by, by facilities we have, are teaching how to make these things underground. MARIANA: That was a very around the way answer. TONY: I was a lawyer. I was a lawyer before. MARIANA: The stuff that is made here, does it end up inside people's bodies around the country? TONY: That's what I don't wanna answer. MARIANA: Because that can get you in trouble? TONY: Right. I plead The Fifth. MARIANA: No matter what Tony might say; there's a black market for these types of drugs. And demand is high. Is this some of the stuff you're delivering today? MARIANA: I mean, so it's basically, it's a drug deal? DAVID: Check this stuff. BUYER: All right. MARIANA: How long have you been selling steroids for? MARIANA: A few days later, I find myself on a ride-along with one of Sacramento's busiest steroid dealers. Are most of your buyers bodybuilders? MARIANA: I'll be calling him David. Is part of the reason you sell it is so that you can take them as well? So you can afford your own? MARIANA: Oh, wow. So testosterone. Trenbolone. MARIANA: If David were caught, he could face five years in prison. The maximum punishment for selling steroids without a prescription. BUYER: Yeah. MARIANA: David has agreed to wear a wireless microphone, so I can monitor this deal from a nearby car. DAVID: How's everything? BUYER: Oh, great, doing good. DAVID: Yup. BUYER: Here. DAVID: Five a joule. BUYER: Right on. Yeah. MARIANA: They just did this right in the open. Even the money was exchanged out in the open. BUYER: Right on. Thanks. DAVID: Have a good day. BUYER: I'll talk to you later. DAVID: Yes, sir. MARIANA: David also allows us to secretly film a deal he has arranged at a local gym. MARIANA: David tells me that a steroid regimen can cost users between a couple hundred and a thousand dollars a month. DAVID: All right, bro. I'll see you, man. MAN: All right, man. I appreciate it. MARIANA: So all of this is illegal though. What you're doing, selling this. totally illegal? MARIANA: Do people buying steroids ever ask you about any side effects or any of the dangerous side of it? MARIANA: "What can I get to look like that?" MARIANA: The demand for stretches from coast to coast, and users are quick to sing their praises. ZAC: I just love it. It's like getting dressed in the morning. What am I gonna do today? I'm so interested in my body's physical ability to change, especially so rapidly. My body's my art. I'm not happy with my masterpiece yet. MARIANA: Zac used to inject the types of traditional steroids I saw David selling in Sacramento, but then he met Tony Huge online. ZAC: We just, we chitchatted back and forth about what I was doing, and he sent me a care package. MARIANA: Of what? ZAC: And he was, like, of SARMs and supplements from his company. All of that stuff. It was like $700 when I checked it out. Now he seemed like this, you know, hot celebrity kind of guy. I couldn't believe that, like, me of all people, he just sent it out to. MARIANA: The two have remained friends and Zac has sought out Dr. Tony's help as he preps for the Olympia Bodybuilding Competition in Las Vegas. Armed with Tony's new experimental drug, Zac is on an extreme diet and working out five hours a day. But he still has a lot of fat to lose and muscle to add. ZAC: Hey babe, can you grab that mirror? MARIANA: And he's running out of time. ZAC: Tony just sent me some pretty awesome stuff. You know the SARMs I've been running? WOMAN: Uh-hmm. ZAC: He sent me the injectable version, so I need you to put this in my shoulder. WOMAN: Okay. ZAC: Okay. MARIANA: Zac's girlfriend is generally supportive of him using anabolic drugs. ZAC: Cheers. Fast. There you go. Push deep into the muscle. Ow. Ow. MARIANA: Zac's mom on the other hand is decidedly not on board. MOM: I mean, I know it's naive to think that most athletes, professional athletes, aren't doing drugs. But it's kind of a known thing in bodybuilding. And that, it's terrifying. ZAC: She was like, "Why compete in a sport that relies on drugs to win?" And she has a point. MARIANA: Do you think he'll do well in this competition? MOM: I don't know if you can win without doing drugs, so I'm okay if he doesn't win. I'm... MARIANA: You prefer that he doesn't do drugs? MOM: I would prefer that. MARIANA: There isn't a lot of research done on SARMs yet and what effects it can have. Does that worry you? ZAC: That's true. But, I mean, it's just me taking a risk and putting a leg out there and seeing what happens. JEFF: Back then, I felt like a loser. I felt like a zero, felt like a nobody. And I found this thing, the sport that could give me respect immediately for nothing. You know, almost unearned, you know, you get big in the gym and people were afraid of me or respected me. MARIANA: Like Zac, Jeff started bodybuilding and using steroids when he was in his 20s. But a decade later, he was diagnosed with heart failure. JEFF: The heart thing, that's what everyone's risking. And it's just when, when's your number gonna get called? Like that's how bodybuilders die. I was weak, like, weaker than I'd ever been. And there was something obviously wrong. When they use that word "heart failure", it's like, yeah, that hit me like a ton of bricks. And I got a kid right now, I've got a family, like, "Yo, this isn't cool." ABBY: Now that we have a baby, it was putting a lot of strain on us. JEFF: Many, many people I admire were doing steroids. JEFF: And they weren't dropping dead. My hero's Arnold Schwarzenegger, they're alive, they're still alive. They were big steroid users. MARIANA: Ironically, doctors only discovered Jeff's heart problems when he was sent to the hospital for a different medical emergency, also caused by steroids. JEFF: Like my butt was so big, that, like, I had elastic basketball shorts, and I couldn't pull them up over my butt. It was... MARIANA: Because it was too big? JEFF: Yeah. It was, like, I don't know if you can tell, like. MARIANA: I can definitely tell. JEFF: You know. MARIANA: After injecting a batch of underground steroids, Jeff got an infection so malicious, that doctors had to amputate parts of his butt and legs just to keep him alive. JEFF: The lady was like, "Holy (bleep), we gotta operate on you right now." You know, there were seven surgeries to get the infection under control. And then there were five surgeries to clean it. So there was 11 surgeries in 24 days. MARIANA: Eleven surgeries? JEFF: Eleven. MARIANA: It was only then that Jeff began to rethink his long-time steroid use. Tomorrow, Jeff will get the results from his cardiologist. JEFF: I'm hoping that, you know, I'm gonna get some good, good news. What would be the worst-case scenario? JEFF: Oh, it got worse, I mean, wouldn't that be scary? ABBY: I'm hopeful that it will be a positive move in the right direction but, you know, I, in my gut, I don't think this is something that's just gonna go away overnight, or in a few months. MARIANA: Jeff is about to find out how a decade of steroid use will impact his long-term chance of survival. JEFF: I think some of the damage I did is probably permanent as far as, like, an enlarged heart. DOCTOR: Yeah. JEFF: I don't wanna go back and body-build. I'm not looking for that. I'm looking for, you know, how long can I live, right? Like, I mean, if you look around this office, who's here? It's old men. It's like, "Why am I here?" I'm freaking 37. Something's wrong, right? MARIANA: Jeff has been under the care of a cardiologist for the past year, ever since doctors treating his steroid infection also discovered signs of heart failure. So, doctor, because Jeff took testosterone for so many years. DOCTOR: Right. Right. MARIANA: Now his body doesn't produce it naturally and he actually has to take testosterone to stay healthy. This is the unfortunate irony for guys that are looking to become superhuman, per se. You know, they end up in a point where, again, they obliterate their body's own ability to produce testosterone. MARIANA: Today, Jeff will be getting the results to see if his heart has bounced back to normal. DOCTOR: So there's, there's two main things we're evaluating with that echo. One is your systolic function, which is the squeezing function, and that was the one that was mildly reduced last time you were here that actually does not look significantly different. JEFF: All right. DOCTOR: Okay? So it still looks a little bit sluggish. JEFF: Yup. DOCTOR: But there's another parameter that we look at, which is the relaxation function of the heart. JEFF: Right. DOCTOR: And that was also quite abnormal last time you were here. That looks significantly better. JEFF: Okay. DOCTOR: Okay. Now we're not, we're not at the point where I'd say your heart looks normal, unfortunately. DOCTOR: I think you should sort of get your mind around the fact that you're probably gonna be on long-term medication. I worry about Jeff's longevity. His heart actually hasn't bounced back to normal. DOCTOR: And the longer we see it, that sort of suggests that something permanent has happened there. And if he started taking steroids again? DOCTOR: Not a good outlook. MARIANA: We've heard from a lot of people that say that there is a safe way of doing this. The people that have gotten hurt, it's because they didn't know what they were doing and they were taking too much or... DOCTOR: Right. MARIANA: But there is actually a safe way to do this they say. MARIANA: What do you think? DOCTOR: I think those people are kidding themselves. The best data that we have are autopsy studies. That means someone died. Jeff, frankly, is lucky. There's lots and lots of case reports of young guys having heart attacks and having strokes, sudden death. So your first symptom is dying. THOMAS: What do I think of Tony Huge? A very dangerous guy, because he's so seductive and his social media is so amazing. We have young men, boys, 13-year-old boys, 16, 18, 25 that are buying it hook, line, and sinker. MAN: He wants to actually better the world. MARIANA: In your average American suburb, I meet up with two of Dr. Tony Huge's biggest fans. When did you guys MAN: Four weeks ago. MAN: Yeah, week four. MARIANA: And how do you guys feel? MAN: Honestly, it's, it's superhuman. MARIANA: The shocking thing? They're only teenagers, which is why we aren't showing their faces. MAN: Just taking this, just the light dose that we are on, has just been crazy. MARIANA: Do your parents know that you're taking steroids? MAN: No. So do they see, have they noticed a difference in you? MAN: Little bit. They're kind of suspecting it now. MARIANA: And aren't you guys afraid of all these dangers? MAN: There's too many things like that, in life (bleep) worry about a steroid or SARM giving you some small side effect. MAN: Yeah. MARIANA: I mean, an enlarged heart is not a small side effect. MAN: Well, of course. MARIANA: Heart failure at an early age is not a small side effect. MAN: It's not a small side effect, of course, but if you do the right thing, especially learning from someone like Tony where he literally lays everything out for you. He, he gives you the training advice. MAN: He gives you the nutrition advice. And he also tells you not to (bleep) do it if you're not healthy. And I know there's that one percent chance to, what, I take this first cycle, and I'm not gonna bounce back for the rest of my life, I'm on testosterone replacement. I understand that risk and I'm willing to take it. THOMAS: Are you kidding me? It's 100% dangerous. MARIANA: As Tony Huge arrives in Las Vegas for the start of the Olympia Bodybuilding Competition, I meet with Dr. Thomas O'Connor, a physician who specializes in steroid abuse. THOMAS: He's destroying lives. He looks like he's a physician, and he calls himself a doctor. If they were medical professionals, they'd be in jail. MARIANA: So Tony Huge right now is creating this injectable SARM. He says it's like a steroid, but without side effects, right? THOMAS: Okay. It's, he's wrong. It's not possible right now. Pharmaceutical companies like to do what? Make money. MARIANA: So you're saying that if it was possible to create a steroid without the side effects that the pharmaceutical companies. THOMAS: Billion-dollar industry. And the fact that they're not all over it right now, it's because. THOMAS: It's, that's it's beyond the science of today. MARIANA: Recently, the FDA released a statement saying that SARMs can increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and liver damage. The same side effects of steroids. THOMAS: The patients tell me that, "Hey, doc, I used to love Tony Huge, man, because he represented just, like, freedom and all this kind of stuff." TONY (over phone): You see me in my bedroom with a hot girl. THOMAS: "And then I really took some of the drugs he recommended and then I ended up in the hospital," or "My brother died" or "A friend of mine is really suffering." You see the bodies that are constructed. Being superhuman on steroids is part of the game. It's part of the trip. MARIANA: When I first see Zac in Las Vegas, it's hard to argue with the results. His transformation is jaw-dropping. That's him before and after? ZAC: It, kind of, just speaks for itself. It's just nine weeks, yeah. MARIANA: Holy moly, that is crazy. This is in just nine weeks? Just three months? MAN: Correct. MARIANA: In just nine weeks, Zac dropped his body fat from 21% to 5%. He credits a dedicated workout and diet routine. MAN: Two training sessions a day. Zero carbs of course and... ZAC: I get, yeah, I've been doing three hours of cardio every night. MARIANA: He also credits the drugs that Dr. Tony recommended, including the new injectable SARMs. But the work is not over. TONY: So the first thing I'm gonna inject you with is RAD140, the injectable SARM. MARIANA: Zac has 24 hours before the competition. He and Tony plan to make the final hours count. TONY: I'm gonna give you a dose of 40 milligrams, which is, you know, that's pretty high for an injectable. ZAC: That's a, yeah. TONY: All right. I'm gonna shoot it into your delt. And this is gonna burn. You're gonna wake up tomorrow morning looking more vascular and harder and drier. ZAC: Just in time for prejudging. TONY: Perfect. Yeah. ZAC: Yeah. TONY: That's a good one. Oh, I see you twitching. It stings, huh? ZAC: Yeah, that one burn. TONY: Oh, yeah. That stings. And it's bleeding too, so I'm gonna hold pressure. ZAC: It's getting pretty sore. TONY: Where, where do, where do you want this last one? ZAC: (bleep). TONY: It's worth the pain. Oh, the other thing I want you to take is Viagra. TONY: Not for, not to get an erection. We're taking this to push the blood flow into our muscles. MARIANA: Tony really believes in his dream of a steroid replacement with none of the risks. TONY: We did some damage. TONY: You ready to lift? ZAC: Let's do it. MARIANA: But the reality is, he just doesn't know what the long-term dangers will be. TONY: Push them up and out in front of you little bit for upper chest. ZAC: Like I told Tony, as long as he can guarantee I'm not gonna die right away from this stuff, then, it's okay. Why do you put some much confidence and trust in Tony? ZAC: Because not only is the man honest, he's a really good friend too. He's just an awesome uncle that, that knows everything and takes care of you when you need it and is always around. You're gonna have to breathe more because your blood is super oxygenated now. MARIANA: When you hear all these stories about pros taking steroids and the side effects and... ZAC: Uh-hmm. MARIANA: You know, all the dangers involved, does that scare you at all? ZAC: No. A lot of these guys overdo it and it screwed themselves. I have enough knowledge to keep myself within a safe realm, and I know enough to trust my gut. MARIANA: Tomorrow, Zac will pit himself against other aspiring bodybuilders. It will be a test of both Zac's new physique and of Dr. Tony's new wonder drug. MAN (over PA): And coming up next, we have competitor number 43, Ali Balighi. MARIANA: It's the first day of Mr. Olympia, and hundreds of bodybuilders are squaring off. (inaudible) MARIANA: Zac is about to go on stage for the amateur portion of the competition. If the judges like what they see, Zac can fulfill his goal of turning professional. ZAC: I don't consider myself natural at all. I may not be using steroids, but I'm still like using things that are comparable and influence your hormonal balance. He's betting that Tony Huge's new experimental drug will give him a competitive edge. ZAC: With the injectable SARMs, what I want is to look roided out without being on mainstream roids and being way healthier. MARIANA: Today, Zac will take on 24 other amateur bodybuilders in the Classic Physique category. MARIANA: Only the top three will advance and be given their professional cards. That's him. That's him. TONY: Oh, Zac. Yes, Zac. MARIANA: Are you nervous? TONY: Yeah, I'm, I, I usually get nervous, like, for the competitor, for the client so. WOMAN: Yeah, Zac. TONY: Beautiful. WOMAN: Fifty-one. TONY: Tighten the lower abs. MAN (over PA): Relax. Quarter turn to your right. TONY: Wow. MARIANA: Woo-hoo! When he first walks on stage, I'm once again blown away by Zac's transformation. Let's hear some noise. Who do you guys wanna see? 502. MARIANA: Contestants are called to the front of the stage in groups of five. Judges are looking for the perfect combination of muscle definition and size. Officially, steroids drugs are banned at Mr. Olympia. But there are no drug tests today, so it's impossible to know if any of these bodies were sculpted with anabolic drugs. MAN (over PA): 481, 485. TONY: You see how some of these guys have a lot more muscle than Zac has? MARIANA: Yeah. TONY: Now if Zac can get this amount of muscle with his posing, with his structure, then he could go really far in this sport. MARIANA: You can see the frustration on Zac's face as other competitors are asked to pose for the judges first. MAN (over PA): 390, 476. MARIANA: Tony believes that the bigger participants have simply taken more drugs than Zac. TONY: If he wants to grow after this competition which I think he will, then it's time to start using some of the drugs that can build a lot more muscle like the rest of these guys have. MAN (over PA): 315. MARIANA: Yet another group is called up instead of Zac. MAN (over PA): 502. MARIANA: As the first session ends, his odds are not looking good. Thank you, gentlemen. But there's still another round of the competition, and anything can happen. TONY: Zac. Amazing posing, incredible stamina. But how do you feel? Do you feel flat? Do you feel full? ZAC: I mean, I might have just got my ass whooped. TONY: Now, if you wanna use this as an experiment to see how much we can fill you out with some more advanced chemistry before the finals, then that's what we can do right now. Despite Zac's pessimism, Tony sees a golden opportunity. Like what? ZAC: Like what? Is the question. TONY: Like, like insulin, IGF, high carbs, throw in some sodium. Let's do it. Let's. MARIANA: So that would be right now? TONY: Let's do a three-hour transformation. MARIANA: Right now? TONY: Let's get him some drugs and some food. So this is, this is gonna be a little dangerous because I want you to take a high dosage really to fill you out. TONY: I'll grab some goodies to inject. TONY: The insulin is gonna cause your blood sugar to drop. And then I'm gonna inject you with AMP, Adenosine Monophosphate to volumize your blood. MARIANA: Tony is injecting Zac with hundreds of dollars of free drugs. TONY: And that also can make you very dizzy. MARIANA: But what's the real cost for Zac? TONY: I don't want you to pass out on stage, but we're gonna get you right to the edge of where you're gonna be a little bit dizzy. Okay. I'm gonna put the insulin in last, so first I'm putting IGF des, 200 micrograms. Ah, what the heck, 250 micrograms. TONY: Yeah. TONY: Two, yeah, nothing's gonna happen to you. But right before I shoot, shoot that, I just want some pictures and, and video of you because it's gonna work pretty quick. So I've got my videographer here. What do you think? You got a good angle. Of all the SARMs, this is one of the faster-acting ones. MARIANA: Are you doing any of these for the first time? ZAC: Yeah, all of them. TONY: Three hundred micrograms of IGF des, five units of growth hormone, and fifteen units of insulin. It's a lot to combine. MARIANA: Zac is understandably nervous about taking insulin in particular. ZAC: Are we doing this whole shot in my glute? TONY: On your glute, yeah. ZAC: On my glute? TONY: And Vivian, how long until the rice is ready? MARIANA: Insulin can be bought over the counter at any drug store but injecting too much of it can lead to seizures, coma, brain damage, or death. TONY: As soon as we hit this, I want you to start eating some carbs. Don't like shove it down, but just start snacking on it, get your blood sugar steady. After the shot, I'm gonna put pressure on it so it disburses it into the bloodstream faster. MARIANA: Zac is also injecting AMP, a steroid created for racehorses and not allowed for human consumption. TONY: It's gonna hyper-oxygenate your blood, and so you're gonna be gasping for air to get more oxygen into your bloodstream. This is actually very therapeutic. It's actually very, very healthy. Does it sting? ZAC: Oh, yeah. MARIANA: I'm not gonna lie. I'm completely rooting for Zac to win this competition. But I don't wanna see him die in the process. TONY: Of all the SARMs, this is one of the faster-acting ones. MARIANA: On a short break from the Mr. Olympia competition, Tony is about to inject Zac with a long list TONY: So this time, you're taking a 30% higher dosage than we took at the gym for practice. MARIANA: Tony is hoping to transform Zac's body in just three hours. TONY: Okay. So it stings a lot. So we're definitely gonna have to put pressure because the body's gonna react to that. If I put pressure, it distributes into your bloodstream quickly. So this time... MARIANA: It's a last-ditch effort to impress the Olympia judges for the final round of the event. ZAC: So what's this gonna do for my physique? TONY: Make your veins pop out, make your muscles fuller. all against the rules of the Olympia competition, and it's the kind of thing that can get you in trouble with the DEA. How much of all the stuff you've given him, how much of it is illegal? TONY: Let's see. So the AMP's not technically illegal. It's a grey area. This is something you wouldn't be allowed to sell to another human for human consumption like a drug, it's not FDA approved. MARIANA: Are you allowed to administer them to somebody else? TONY: Probably not. MARIANA: Could he get in trouble for this? TONY: No. Nope. MARIANA: Are you worried, Zac? ZAC: If the po-po come knockin', we'll run together. TONY: You've got the number of your lawyer. ZAC: All right. MARIANA: After injecting half a dozen new anabolics into his bloodstream, Zac arrives back at the competition. He's due on stage in less than an hour. That's pretty good. So, now we can see some veins popping out. He looks like he put on about eight pounds of muscle in just a few hours. MARIANA: It's true though. You can totally see the difference now. I don't think I could notice any of these veins before, and now I can notice them all. Zac's veins are popping, and his muscles are noticeably bigger. He's also feeling short of breath, a side effect of AMP, the horse steroid. He's worried that this won't be enough to impress the judges. I'm worried he's going to pass out on stage. MAN (over PA): Competitor number 100, Daniel Chmura. Competitor number 158, Luis Estrada. MARIANA: As other competitors are eliminated, Zac remains on stage. 61, Anmar Ezzulddin. MARIANA: He's still up there. 204, Denny Guemos. TONY: Good. Good. MARIANA: They didn't call his number. Competitor number 312... MARIANA: But finally, Zac's name is called and his day is done. Competitor number 315. MARIANA: He finishes tied for 16th place. Not the results he was looking for. Are you sad at all? Are you disappointed? ZAC: I'm not actually extremely disappointed. I just didn't have the conditioning I needed so they deserved it more than I did today. At the end of the day, Tony and Zac are both clear on one thing, competing at this level will mean taking even more drugs, and even bigger doses. ZAC: I definitely felt good with Tony's little cocktail. Yeah, that definitely worked, that whole thing. TONY: Bodybuilding is a sport, and it's also art. And the drugs and the steroids give us a bigger paintbrush and more colors to choose from. ZAC: That's exactly right. That's exactly right. MARIANA: Would you call it an epidemic? THOMAS: This is an epidemic where you look great, but your day will come. MARIANA: It's estimated that up to four million Americans are now using steroids. Hi, Tony. TONY (over computer): Hi, Mariana. Good. Thanks. MARIANA: So you've spent the last couple of months in Thailand, is that right? TONY (over computer): Yeah. I'm building an epicenter of chemical transformations to push the limits on performance enhancement. MARIANA: When I last checked in with Tony Huge, he's still promoting "Enhanced Athlete" products, but he's got a new place to conduct human experiments. Are you and Trevor planning on moving your whole operation to Asia? Yeah. We're transitioning right now, so yeah. As fast as we can. In Thailand, they have clinics on every corner. We don't have to go through doctors and get prescriptions for lab work. Look, SHBG, Cortisol, DHT, Prolactin estrogen, Growth Hormone. We can just move much faster in Thailand than in the US with our research. MARIANA: In 2019, a bill was introduced to the US Senate that would allow the DEA to arrest anyone making SARMs. Are you ever afraid that the authorities will come after you? Yeah, sure, there's always a little bit of that fear. Yeah. It's not so much that I'm running away from authorities and law enforcement, as it is, I'm just less of a target if I'm outside the country. MARIANA: Do you think there's anything wrong with wanting to be superhuman? TONY (over computer): No. I think that that is the next step of our evolution. I mean, how strong can we become? How amazing can we look? How long can we live? If people could just visualize when they felt the best in their life, imagine having that all the time and then imagine amplifying it. That's what it feels like to be superhuman. And once people experience, it's hard to go back. MARIANA: This is what makes Tony's pitch so seductive. He believes, with missionary-like zeal, in what he preaches. TONY: All right. Here we go. MARIANA: That sort of faith can be dangerous, even deadly. But it's hard to argue with those convinced they're on the path to salvation. Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.