Underworld, Inc.

Black market moonshine is big business - high-proof, low-cost, untaxed and illegal. But the law is cracking down and urban bootleggers are bringing fresh competition. It’s the first day of the whiskey-making season for expert moonshiner, Rosco. He’s found the perfect hidden site deep in the southern Appalachian Mountains. But 700 miles southwest, in Holmes County, Mississippi, there’s a special police unit cracking down on ’shiners like Rosco.

Increased automobile security means that car criminals are becoming more ingenious than ever. Gangs work together to steal cars. In Santa Maria, California, three cars are stolen every day and police are targeting the thieves rather than recovering vehicles. The criminals, meanwhile, rush to get the cars out of state, and then, overseas. In West Africa, a criminal class has arisen that is willing to pay top dollar for high-end stolen U.S. cars.

In America, 14 people die each day waiting for a kidney transplant. Meanwhile, the black market organ trade is thriving, and gangsters with global reach are pocketing easy money. Desperation drives this illegal trade in human spare parts, but the medical community is sounding the alarm, and international law enforcement is in hot pursuit of the traffickers.

US authorities are closing in on cartel cash. If drug lords want their narco cheddar cleaned, they have to get it to Mexico. Working to stem the tide, the cops hit stash houses. Launderers use money changers to turn drug profits to pesos for investment in front companies and bogus construction projects. If local authorities pry into these shady businesses, they get warned off – cartel style.

In Williston, North Dakota, an oil mining boom has brought tens of thousands of blue-collar workers to this once sleepy town. But the 21st century ‘black gold rush’ has also attracted black-market operators. Motorcycle gangs extort Williston’s bars and strip clubs, while pimps net millions from prostitution. But with the oil boom going bust, criminals must adapt. Laid-off oil workers are becoming this underworld’s most resourceful criminals.

From card cheats, to armed robbers, to ‘trick’ rollers, criminals across America make a beeline for the casinos of Las Vegas to ply their trades. To defend themselves, casinos have become crime-fighting organizations – deploying state-of-the-art surveillance backed up by an army of security staff. This war on crime is ever changing, as criminals react to casino crackdowns with ever newer and more inventive means of attack.

Fuelled by the huge demand for luxury goods, where customers buy with no questions asked, cargo thieves stop at nothing to get their product into the black market.