All language subtitles for Trafficked.with.Mariana.van.Zeller.S04E01.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH[EZTVx.to]

[ambient traffic noise]

[Mariana Van Zeller] When we
were going to do a story about

assassins, I honestly didn't
think that we were going to be

filming here in Los Angeles.

[train horn]

We're about to
meet our contact.

Supposedly he's found somebody
who's willing to talk to us.

You want to come in?

[Mariana Van Zeller] So
he's around here somewhere?

[Mariana Van Zeller] Is he
nervous to the point that

things can get ugly?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
It's unsafe for us?

[Mariana Van Zeller] Okay,
I'm stopping here for a second

because I think before we
meet him, we should talk.

So he's for sure an assassin?

-For a hit?
-Yeah.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Oh, [bleep].

[Mariana Van Zeller]
As a journalist

covering the underworld,

I've seen almost everything
that can be trafficked,

trafficked,

but there's one trade that's
always been just out of reach,

where the product
is death itself.

[gunshot]

This is as black as
the black market gets.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
In 2019 and 2020 alone,

hitmen murdered nearly 3,000
people around the world.

And the killing game
shows no signs of letting up.

This is him, right?

[T] Yeah

[Mariana Van Zeller]
By covering you, yes.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
We're changing your voice.

[theme music plays]

[Mariana Van Zeller] So, I'm
going to be blunt and just ask

you the ques, so you,
you, you kill people?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Pay you to kill people?

[Mariana Van Zeller] Is it
always here in the city, in LA?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
All around the country?

[Mariana Van Zeller] How
many times have you done it?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
More than ten?

[Mariana] Do you remember
the first time you did it?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Is it easy?

[Mariana Van Zeller] Do you do
any surveillance beforehand?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Yeah, what...

[Mariana Van Zeller] Do you have
limits though or boundaries?

Are there certain people that...

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Like what?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
But a father is okay?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Do you have kids?

[Mariana Van Zeller] But there
is a part of you that has to

feel a little bad, knowing that

these are people who have
people who love them, right?

They have families.

[Mariana] Okay, I won't talk
about your kids anymore.

[Hitman] Yeah.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
You're getting tired?

[Mariana Van Zeller] Okay.

I mean if you have to
leave, you have to leave.

And just like that,
the interview is over.

[Hitman] Bye.

[Mariana Van Zeller] I have
so many more questions.

So much more I want to know
about hitmen and what they do.

But assassins are paid
to silence their victims,

and to stay silent about it.

In my career,

I've run into many people
who kill for a living.

Sicarios in Mexico.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Gang
members in Brazil and Colombia.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Even a hitman in Amsterdam.

Would you shoot a journalist
if you were paid to?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
It's a global phenomenon.

Hitmen make
headlines around the world.

[Reporter] A hit squad pulls up
and a hooded assassin unloads.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Yet
little is known about how

contract killers actually work,

or what drives them to
make a living out of killing.

[gunshot]

For that I need to go to a
country where they thrive

like few others.

[chopping]

[drumming]

South Africa, where
news of the latest hit

is an almost daily occurrence.

[Anchor] Yet another whistle
blower has been gunned down.

[Reporter] He was assassinated,
ambushed by two gunmen.

[gunshot]

[Mariana Van Zeller] In
the last seven years alone,

assassins here have
killed more than 1,000 people.

I want to know how
that's possible.

So how far are we,
more or less?

[Yanda] Like one minute.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Okay.

So we should start getting
closer to you guys here, right?

[Yanda] All right, all right.

[Mariana Van Zeller] I'm on
my way to the epicenter of

South Africa's
assassination epidemic.

So we're following
the white Range Rover.

The two cars are full of
bodyguards, one in front

and one right behind.

This is where things
start to get a little heated.

So we have to make sure,
oh look, look at that.

[♪ intensifying music]

This is not gang territory,
or cartel country.

Incredibly, it's a
minibus taxi center.

Where I'm headed to meet a
man with a target on his back.

Look at that, this is insane.

I mean, seriously, he's more
protected than the President,

it seems.

Okay, so, I'm going to
go out and meet him.

Hi, Yanda, how are you?

[Yanda] Hi.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Nice to meet you.

You're the most important
person in South Africa

it seems from all
your security guys.

[Yanda] Yeah, I
would say in this area.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Yeah.

[Yanda] I am the most
important person, yes.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Yanda is
what is known in South Africa

as a taxi boss, he runs a
fleet of 500 minibus taxis,

a lucrative gig, but not
for the faint of heart.

So why so much protection?

And what's
happening around us?

[Yanda] I've been
attacked five times.

[Mariana Van Zeller] You've
been attacked five times?

-Yes.
-By whom?

[Yanda] Um, by the opposition.

There's always an opposition.

I've been told they are
paid more than a million to...

[Mariana Van Zeller]
To try to kill you?

[Yanda] To kill me, yes.

[honking]

[Mariana Van Zeller] In
South Africa, the taxi game

is big business,

the industry transports nearly
70% of South African commuters.

With an estimated 10 million
commuter trips every day,

raking in around
$4.7 billion a year.

And with so much money at
stake, the fight to control

the most lucrative
routes is brutal.

[honking]

[gunshots]

[Bystander] Oh my god, oh no!

[eNCA Anchor] Police have
launched a massive manhunt

following a deadly attack
on a fully loaded taxi.

[Mariana Van Zeller] A quick
search online brings up dozens

of videos and news clips that
paint a gruesome portrait of

the industry.

[eNCA Reporter] This latest
incident has highlighted the

problem of taxi violence.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Rival
taxi syndicates torch each

other's vehicles.

[gunshots]

Shootouts are common.

[Mariana Van Zeller] And for
some taxi bosses hiring hitmen

to take out their competition

is the fastest way
to higher profits.

[SABC Reporter] Streets have
become hunting grounds for

assassins involved in
an ongoing taxi feud.

[gunshots]

[Yanda] Taxi people only
believe in one thing,

they believe that in order
for you to control this,

you must kill this person.
You know?

Even the last incident,
I had one bullet, AK47,

stuck in my head.

[Mariana Van Zeller] No.

[Yanda] Those are the
scars as you can see.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Oh, wow.
I see it, yeah.

And the people that shot at you,
were they hired hitmen?

[chatter]

[Mariana Van Zeller] Do
you always feel on edge when

you're here in your place?

[Yanda] Always, because
whenever I'm here, I'm not safe.

I always have my firearm.

This is my baby.

[Mariana Van Zeller] So, if
you were to leave right now

and walk outside without your
bodyguards, what would happen?

How long do you think you'd
last before somebody tried

to shoot at you?

[Yanda] Not more
than 15 minutes.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Wow.

That's a crazy way
to live, like that.

[Yanda] Yeah.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Yanda's
rivals, the people who he says

have hired hitmen to kill him,

have their base just
around the corner,

and he wants to
show me what happens

when he gets close
to their turf.

This feels a lot
more unprotected,

we're not surrounded
by your taxis.

[Yanda] Yes, yes, yes.

That side, that's where, if we
go there, anything can happen.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Shall we stay here?

[Yanda] No, let's
come a little bit.

Yes.

[Mariana Van Zeller] I'm
with you, I'll do whatever

you say is safe.

[Yanda] As you can see,
those taxis parked there.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Oh, yeah.

All the vans over there, that,
it's another parking lot.

And that's the other, that's
his rivals, the other taxi

association and the
people who, he says,

have been trying to kill him.

[Yanda] Yes, that's correct.

Some are coming.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Oh, yeah,
they all came out with

their own guns.

This is so crazy like one,
two, three, four, five, six,

seven, eight armed guys
walking right towards us.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
That is crazy,

so now they seem to be talking.

[Yanda] But you can see
that they're not happy.

[Mariana Van Zeller] No.

I'm in South Africa
with a taxi boss,

facing down his rivals,

rivals he says have hired a
hit squad to take him out.

Are we poking the bear a
little bit too much here?

Are we?

[Yanda] Yes, kind of, but
this is our daily life.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Yeah,
he's waving us away

saying go, go, go.

So they're obviously not
happy that we were there.

I mean, I can see how
things can change really fast.

[Yanda] Yes.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
And this can become bad.

[Yanda] Oh, anytime.

[Mariana Van Zeller] The taxi
business accounts for nearly

half of all assassinations
in South Africa.

And it's become a
breeding ground for hitmen.

How easy is it to
hire inkabi here?

[Yanda] Very easy.

In fact, they come to
you and ask for a job.

Is there anyone we
can kill for you?

[Mariana Van Zeller] No!
That's happened?

[Yanda] Yeah, that happens.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Have
you ever hired a hitman?

[Yanda] Yes, I have.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
To kill somebody else?

[laughing]

[Yanda] To do the same thing
that they're doing to me.

[Mariana Van Zeller] You were
trying to kill the person who

was trying to kill you?

[Yanda] Yes, that's correct.

[Mariana Van Zeller] It seems
to be a bit of a cycle, right?

Because somebody
tries to kill you,

you try to kill somebody else.

And it seems like it's a never
ending cycle of violence.

[Yanda] That's how it's been
happening and I don't think

anyone can be
able to stop this.

[Mariana Van Zeller] It's a
never ending cycle of violence

that Yanda knows all too well.

But when I ask him if he could
connect me with a hitman,

he says no.

[Yanda] 'Cause I have
got a lot of enemies.

I'm their number one target.
I'm not safe.

[Mariana Van Zeller] What
he did tell me was this,

some taxi bosses
have a side hustle

running networks of assassins

that they hire out
for high paying hits

on whistleblowers, business
leaders and politicians.

We're joining an elite
anti-gang unit on a raid

as they close in on one of
these assassin networks.

We're heading for a house that
is believed to belong to

a taxi boss.

It's a convoy of about
20 cars and about 35 men.

We're in one of Durban's
vast urban slums,

created during the country's era
of forced racial segregation

known as apartheid.

It was a violent system designed
to keep Black South Africans

in poverty, and
its dark legacy remains.

[Mariana Van Zeller] As we
pull up, the SWAT team

storms the house.

[speaking native language]

[Mariana Van Zeller] Look, look,
oh yeah, do you see them?

[speaking native language]

[Mariana Van Zeller]
It's right here. Follow me.

[Dina] Somebody has
a breaching tool!

[Mariana Van Zeller] So they're
breaching the door right now.

Okay. So he said that, that
we can't go close right.

[speaking native language]

[Mariana Van Zeller] Oh, wow.

[speaking foreign language]

[Mariana Van Zeller] There's a
dozen men and they're sort of

securing the premise, watching
all windows and access points.

I'm gonna go behind you, yeah?

[♪ intense dramatic music]

[Dina] Clear? Clear?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Is it clear?

It seems to be
clear right now.

So they have the suspects
here on the floor, right here.

And they're still searching.

[Dina] Is the rifle there?

[Mariana Van Zeller] So
far they've recovered three

firearms and I believe they
have one more suspect

being taken out now.

The police tell me the
suspected hitman was caught

with an illegal automatic weapon

and was dressed in the uniform
of a private security company

which I've heard is a disguise
that hitmen here often use.

That's because in South Africa
licensed security guards,

like Yanda's men, are allowed to
carry fully-automatic firearms

not available to
the average person.

Oh, so that's
the assault rifle?

[Cop] Assault rifle.

[Mariana Van Zeller] What kind
is it?

[Mariana Van Zeller] How do they
get their hands on these guns?

[Mariana] South Africa is
awash with illegal firearms,

more than two
million of them,

and they're fueling the
assassination epidemic,

[gunshot]

unlicensed weapons are harder
for the police to trace,

which makes it easier for the
assassins to do their work.

Globally, assassins are
known to use car bombs,

IEDs, and poison.

But firearms are
their weapon of choice.

So, if i want to find an
active hitman, my best bet

is to follow the
trail of illegal guns.

I head north to the outskirts
of Johannesburg to meet a

contact who can help.

Rudy?

[Rudy] Rudy.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Come on in.

So you tell me how
to get, how to go, right?

[Mariana Van Zeller] This guy
that we're meeting,

what can you tell me about him?

Is he...

[Mariana] Oh, so he buys and
sells weapons to people?

-Now?
-Yeah.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Okay.
So let's put cameras down,

guys, we're getting close.

The organizer, who we'll
call Vusi, is running late.

And when he finally
arrives, he explained why.

Okay. So, um, you went to the
police station, is that right?

Why?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
So the, the 9mm,

you got that from the police?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Holy [bleep].

Vusi tells me that he has
bought dozens of handguns

from the police.

His source for heavy
weapons is equally shocking.

[Mariana Van Zeller] You
get them from the military?

[Mariana Van Zeller] And what
kind of weapons are you,

we, talking about?

[Mariana Van Zeller] The R5 is
the same model assault rifle

I saw the police confiscate
from a suspected hitman.

Most of your clients use
it for which, for what?

[Mariana Van Zeller] We really
want to meet an inkabi,

an, a hitman who is
currently active.

Do you know anyone that
you could introduce us to?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Unfortunately, his assassin

turns us down.

But I get lucky.

Another local source comes
through with an introduction.

This is it.

After many weeks trying to
get a hitman to talk to us,

it looks like we finally
have one who has agreed.

It's still surreal to me that
this profession even exists,

that someone
kills for a living.

[gunshot]

I'd feel more comfortable if

assassins remained
a Hollywood trope.

With their cool
detachment from death.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Their
effortless mastery of weapons.

And their impressive
old testament knowledge.

[Jules Winnfield] And I will
strike down upon thee

with great vengeance.

[gunshots]

[Vincent] I do
this for a living.

[Mariana Van Zeller] But the
reality is much less slick.

And in a way,
perhaps more scary.

[footsteps]

[Mariana Van Zeller]
So, Jojo, right?

[Mariana Van Zeller] It's
okay if I call you Jojo?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Well, how did you start?

How did you get
into this business?

[Mariana Van Zeller] I'm in
South Africa investigating

the world of
professional assassins.

Jojo, did you go to school?

[Mariana Van Zeller] Uh-hmm.

[Mariana Van Zeller] And
how many people do you think

you've killed in your life?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Close to 30 people?

[Mariana Van Zeller] How much
do you get paid per hit?

[Mariana Van Zeller] So that's
about $1,400, more or less.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Who gets the rest?

[Mariana Van Zeller] So, how
many people do you work with?

[Mariana Van Zeller] One thing
that we've heard is that the

police are sometimes even
warned when there's going

to be a killing.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Why do
you think the situation is so

bad in South Africa?

[Mariana Van Zeller] Jojo
reminds me of some of the

other killers I've met, mostly
young, always poor,

driven to crime
because they believe

it's the only choice they have.

[Mariana Van Zeller] In Mexico,
these young men saw it

as a shockingly
normal career path.

[Mariana Van Zeller] In
Amsterdam, this hitman grew up

in a violent
drug-dealing family.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
They're all killers?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
It's a grim reality.

And as I heard in Los Angeles,
too, it often starts young.

How old were you
the first time?

[Mariana Van Zeller] Do you mind
me asking what your parents did?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Were they killed?

[Mariana Van Zeller] What did
you think of the person that

killed your parents?

[Mariana Van Zeller] So, you
do realize that you're doing

the same thing to
other kids, right?

You had a really hard life
because your parents were killed

and you're basically doing the
same thing to other children.

[Mariana Van Zeller] You
never thought about this?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
But are they?

Do you consider
yourself a bad person?

[Mariana Van Zeller] Uh, yeah,
I mean, it was a...

it is horrible what he does.

It is horrible, horrible.

It's the worst thing you can
do as a human being is to take

another human being's life.

Um, but at the same time, you
hear his story and you can

understand how people fall
into this pattern and this

cycle of violence of his
parents being killed and then

himself becoming a killer.

And as controversial
as this may sound,

I felt sorry for him, yeah.

But I, you know, I feel more
sorry for the people that he's

killing, and for the families
of the people that he's

killing, of course.

But, yeah, it's a
really, really hard one.

[chatter]

[Mariana Van Zeller] Still, the
next stop on this journey

is clear,

if I really want to
understand assassins,

I need to understand
the damage they do.

[sighing]

[sighing]

[Johanna Phenya] I
heard the gunshots.

Then I started panicking.

I rushed outside.

That's when I found him.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Johanna Phenya's husband, Eric,

was assassinated in
October of 2022.

Witnesses say two hitmen
opened fire on Eric's car

minutes after he dropped
his children off at school.

[Johanna Phenya] I still
have flashbacks of

him lying in the car.

With the bullet holes.

You know, I tried to
call his name, you know,

"Sweetie, wake up"
like, and like he...

[Mariana Van Zeller]
I'm so sorry.

I'm so sorry.

[crying]

Johanna and Eric ran a
technology company that was

working with the government on
a project when they noticed

a government official
trying to steal funds.

Johanna says her husband
reported the fraud to the police

and then testified
against the official.

His honesty proved fatal.

Johanna and her children
are now in hiding,

afraid the hitmen will
return to kill them.

[Johanna Phenya] And my
daughter was like,

"Mama, what kind of a
life are we living?"

Because after we
buried my husband,

they were still following us.

They went to their school.

[Johanna Phenya] I,
I miss my best friend.

[waves crashing]

[Mariana Van Zeller] There's
some nice houses here, huh?

[Mariana Van Zeller] Jojo wasn't
involved in Eric's killing.

But as I ride with
him through Durban,

I'm very aware of the parallels.

So, if you do have a
target who would live in a

neighborhood like this,
how would you go about it?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Wait, dressed as police?

How do you get a police uniform?
Is that easy?

[Mariana Van Zeller] Do
they know what it's for?

[Mariana Van Zeller] So, is
that your preferred method?

-Right here?
-Yes. You know.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Have you
ever shot women and children?

[Mariana] But the kids were
there in the house as well?

[Jojo] I don't, I don't.

[children laughing]

[Mariana Van Zeller] It's hard
to hear these details and

not think about what
Johanna and her children

are now going through.

But it's telling that she
doesn't blame the hitmen.

[Johanna Phenya] They could
have done something about it.

[siren]

[Mariana Van Zeller] Following
Eric's assassination,

the police tracked
down the hitmen.

They found the cars they drive
and an address where they're

known to frequent.

[Johanna Phenya] They
know the suspects and

they're not doing anything.

[Mariana Van Zeller] So
nobody has been arrested.

Nothing has
happened to anyone?

[Johanna Phenya] No.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Do you
think that it's related to the

business deal, the,
the contract that you...

[Johanna Phenya] Yeah.

[Mariana Van Zeller] For sure?

[Johanna Phenya] 100%, 100%.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Time and
again, this is what we've heard.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
So the, that 9mm,

you got that from the police?

[Mariana Van Zeller] But I
want to understand how deep

the corruption goes.

And for that, I need to speak
to someone on the inside.

He told us to meet him in P6
and hopefully he'll be there.

[♪ dramatic music]

Torrance?

What you're doing is not only
risky, but incredibly brave.

[♪ slow ominous music]

[Mariana Van Zeller] Because
there's so much risk in doing

this, why did you
want to talk to us?

[Mariana Van Zeller]
This is Torrance,

it's not his real name.

He spent over 25 years in the
South African police service.

[Torrance] Yes.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Have
you seen that's happening?

[Mariana Van Zeller] With your
own eyes? Like you saw it.

[Mariana Van Zeller] They
know full well that these are

assassinations, that
people are gonna be murdered?

[Mariana Van Zeller] Do you know
police officers who

also became hit men?

[Mariana Van Zeller] So, they
work for the hitmen, and in

some cases, they are
hitmen themselves.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Wherever
murder goes unpunished,

contract killings become
a tool of the powerful.

A way to protect
corrupt interests.

That's true in Mexico when
drug cartels slay journalists.

[BBC Reporter] Four journalists
have been killed in Mexico

in just the past two months.

[Mariana Van Zeller] In the
Amazon when illegal loggers

kill activists.

[Al Jazeera Reporter] A
Peruvian environmentalist and

three other community leaders
have been killed in a region

bordering Brazil.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Or in the
Netherlands when drug gangs

silence witnesses
before a trial.

[News Reporter] Mafia style
murders in the Netherlands has

led to questions about whether
the drug gangs are threatening

the rule of law.

[Mariana Van Zeller] The fear
of assassination becomes a

powerful tool of control.

[sirens]

Especially when the
institutions supposed to be

fighting back are
in on the take.

This is not just a handful
of cops, that are corrupt.

You're talking about
systemic corruption.

How far up do you think the
corruption actually goes

in South Africa?

[Mariana Van Zeller] Why not?

[Mariana Van Zeller] So, every
single person we spoke to for

the story has mentioned
police corruption.

This is Bheki Cele,

South Africa's
minister of police.

[Bheki Cele] Your job
is to enforce the law!

[Mariana Van Zeller] He was
once an activist who spent

time in the same prison
as Nelson Mandela,

and survived an
assassination attempt

at hands of the
Apartheid regime.

We've heard of
police selling guns,

police being involved
in assassination plots.

It's systemic corruption.

What do you say to that?

[Bheki Cele] I think, the...

[Bheki Cele] There are very,
very corrupt and dangerous,

dangerous cops.

But that number does not

surpass the number
of good police.

That there are many good cops.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Some of
the things that we've heard is

that the police have
been clearing the area

for assassinations
to take place.

Renting their own uniforms

for the hitmen to disguise
themselves as police.

It's more than
just corruption.

It's that they are
actually actively involved

in these killings, in
these assassinations.

[Bheki Cele] And
it's not denied.

[Mariana Van Zeller] So,
you have knowledge that

this is happening?

[Bheki Cele] Exactly.
No doubt about that.

People are dying here.

[Mariana Van Zeller] In 2016,
South Africa created a special

task force to address
its assassination crisis.

Since then, Bheki Cele says 337
assassins have been arrested.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Well,
that's an enormous number,

but that doesn't make you feel
any safer to think that those

are the people that have been
arrested, so you can only

imagine how many
are out there.

[Bheki Cele] There are
many of the murderers about.

But it, it would be unfair
to say that government is

not fighting back
on this course.

Have we won? No.

Are we doing something? Yes.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Uh-huh.
Okay, very fair.

Minister, one more question.

You have fought hard for
democracy in this country.

You yourself were an activist.

You were arrested while
fighting for democracy

in this country.

Is this the democracy that
you envisioned, when you have

widespread and systemic
corruption like you said,

but also when people try to
fight it, they can be killed?

[Mariana Van Zeller] I spent
time with, uh, this woman.

And it's a story
I will never forget.

Her name is Johanna Phenya.

I'm with Bheki Cele,

South Africa's
minister of police.

Her husband and her started
exposing corruption within

the government and started
receiving death threats.

She went to the police,
gave them all the evidence.

The police did nothing.

And a few weeks later,
her husband was killed.

So what would you say
to people like Johanna?

And there are many
of them out there.

[Bheki Cele] Well,
South Africa has a very high

degree of murders.

But there are many of them

that have been
prevented to be hit.

Unfortunately, those stories

don't make their
way to the media.

[Mariana Van Zeller] So,
you know about this case?

[Bheki Cele] I have
heard about it. Yes.

[Mariana Van Zeller] Because I
think the message that it sends

is more than
just killing one person.

It sends a message of fear.

[Bheki Cele] No.
You can't accept that.

The efforts, let me admit,
not adequate.

It's not enough.

Yes, we have a problem.
But we are fighting it.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
Ultimately though, fighting

this black market is
more difficult than most.

There's no product to bust,
no supply chain to track,

just a simple agreement between
a corrupt client and a willing

contractor desperate enough
to be selling the unthinkable.

Johanna, do you think that
the people that did this,

do you think they're
aware of what they did?

Or the suffering?

[Johanna Phenya] No.
They don't care.

They don't care.
They are just hitmen.

They are just,
they are working.

And for them,
it's to make money.

[gunshots]

[Mariana Van Zeller] I sense
that the only way Jojo and

some of the other hitmen I've
met can justify the savagery

of their work is to convince
themselves that they have

no other choice.

That there's no going back.

[Mariana Van Zeller] In time,
killing becomes the only thing

they know.

Whether that's in South Africa,
Mexico, or Los Angeles.

Would you want to get out of
this if there was another way

of making as much money?

[Mariana Van Zeller] Why not?

[Mariana Van Zeller] So you're
not just saying this because

we've got cameras, you
actually feel this way?

[♪ dramatic eerie music]

[Mariana Van Zeller] In
South Africa, hitmen perform

a traditional ritual,

bathing in blood and bile,

to protect themselves
from the spirits

of the people they've murdered.

[Mariana Van Zeller] I can't
imagine choosing a life like

the one Jojo has chosen.

[gunshot]

Assassins wield the
power of life and death.

But they are also vulnerable,

expendable and
infinitely replaceable.

They are part of a culture of
killing that grows in places

where corruption
and greed rule.

Places that have no
respect for the rule of law.

[Mariana Van Zeller]
It's a vicious cycle.

When assassins kill, they do
more than silence a person.

They silence the truth,

instill fear,

embolden the corrupt
and powerful,

and leave the poor with
fewer and fewer choices.

Captioned by
Cotter Media Group.