It costs just $2.50 to dump a tonne of toxic waste off the coast of Somalia. It’s the world’s cheapest rubbish dump and a nice little earner for certain westerners, who would have to pay $1,000 to dump their trash back home. But hundreds of Somalis are falling ill, poisoned by other peoples’ waste. Barrels of nuclear waste frequently wash up on the shores of Puntland and the beaches are often strewn with dead fish.
Who is dumping this waste in Somali waters? Who in Somalia is making money from it? Two Italian journalists have already lost their lives for asking such questions. We re-open the inquiry. It’s an investigation that leads us into the shady underworlds of the Italian mafia, Somali pirates and the lethal nuclear waste industry.
With no state, no bank system, a scarce army, and an under-equipped police force, the majority of Somalia is completely out of government control.
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Kidnapping in Nigeria and Somalia is big business. The kidnappers see themselves as Robin Hood figures, targeting the hated oil companies who they accuse of plundering the country’s natural resources without giving anything back.
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In this acclaimed series, we journey on some of the world's most dangerous routes and explore the lengths people go to in order to change their destinies.
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