Yesterday (February 10th, 2022), National Geographic announced that the third season of Emmy-nominated docuseries, Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller, has been given the green light ahead of the show’s second season, which debuts in just three days’ from today (February 11th, 2022).
Mariana van Zeller herself / Picture Credit: National Geographic
Filming on the third season of Trafficked will begin later in 2022, and will highlight more of the injustices seen in today’s world.
Mariana van Zeller is an Award-winning journalist who has a passion for justice, and for exposing those who do wrong; she is set to continue her haunting dig into the world’s most dangerous black markets.
Each episode of Trafficked sees van Zeller work her way into a different black market, or even global trafficking network, in order to bring the truth to light; she meets those who work within these not-so-legitimate businesses, and learns what they’re all about.
She does her job with pride and caution, as she aims to understand the inner workings of the shadowy parts of the world’s economy.
Trafficked’s second season consists of 10 episodes, and offers audiences a look into places that are rarely seen by anyone; van Zeller takes viewers behind the scenes of what these networks are really like, and the dangers they pose.
Topics for season two include the inner workings of romance scams; following a meth superhighway, from a massive cartel-run lab in Sinaloa across the border and into the lives of American users; setting off on a wild journey through California’s black market for weed, and more.
One episode in particular may be of interest to many; episode eight of the second season of Trafficked, titled Romance Scams (set to debut on April 4th, 2022), sees van Zeller travel to Ghana to meet those who are bringing in millions of American dollars from romance scams.
Back home, she then meets the victims of these scams, the people who are living with the results of previous events.
When asked about what the second season holds, van Zeller stated that “One thing that we did with this second season is that not only did we go deeper into the dark market, but we also went wider...
“We tackled subjects that at first glance you wouldn’t think would be part of a series about black market.” Continued van Zeller, “But what we discovered is that they absolutely do, such as white supremacy and plastic surgery.”
“If you show up and you’re super nervous and you’re surrounded by your own bodyguards, then you’re basically giving people the impression that you don’t trust them and they’re never going to trust you back.” Said van Zeller when discussing gaining trust with ‘big players’.
“So, treating people with trust, respect and dignity goes a long way, because very often they treat you with respect, dignity, and trust back.”
van Zeller also claimed that she is “really proud of it and also proud that we tackled subjects that were very relevant to the global pandemic, such as romance scamming, which is a crime that existed already but really exploded...”
The second season of Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller begins on Monday, February 14th 2022 at 9pm, via National Geographic.
Written by Melissa, who you can follow on Twitter @melissajournal
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