Locked Up Abroad

- Season 9

(2013)

The harrowing story of American POWs Ernie Brace and John McCain during their Vietnam war imprisonment. As the longest held POW in Vietnam history, Ernie Brace likely endured more than any other POW during the war. Held for almost eight years, he faced capture, starvation, sickness, torture, solitude and desperation. After three-and-a-half years, Brace was transported from the jungle to the infamous prison in Vietnam dubbed the "Hanoi Hilton," and finally heard the voice of another American in the adjoining cell: Lt. Cmdr. John McCain, a Navy pilot shot down over ...

Shaun Attwood left his life in England to follow his dream and became a successful stockbroker in America. After moving to Phoenix, Ariz., he soon finds himself using ecstasy and then begins dealing. But when a local mafia boss takes offense, the door opens on a criminal underworld.

Tom Crutchfield, a salesman living in Fort Myers, Fla., successfully smuggled crocodiles, snakes, tarantulas and king cobras around the world. When Belize officials deport him back to the U.S., federal marshals are waiting.

For Roy Hallums, a routine trip to the office turned into the ultimate fight for his life. In 2004, the 20-year Navy veteran was working in Iraq when he was suddenly kidnapped. His Iraqi captors sealed him in an underground room, just barely keeping him alive while demanding a $12 million ransom. Locked Up Abroad goes inside his harrowing story of how he survived.

Learn the real story behind the Academy Award-winning movie "Argo" from the people who actually inspired the film. Locked Up Abroad sits down with Antonio Mendez -- the former CIA officer portrayed in the movie by Ben Affleck -- along with former hostages Mark Lijek and Cora Amburn-Lijek. Combining archival news footage with their first-person accounts, see how the CIA rescued six American diplomats from Tehran, Iran, by having them pose as a movie crew.

In the summer of 1972, five young Americans are caught trying to smuggle more than 2,000 pounds of marijuana out of Mexico. While awaiting trial, they are sent to Mazatlan Prison and desperately begin planning their escape. For six weeks, the group tunnels through a concrete wall using a butter knife and some rocks, only to find that they're sitting on top of water that won't stop gushing through the dirt floor. Will these detainees be able to escape one of Mexico's most violent prisons?

Eddie Padilla is living the high life in Maui, surfing, partying and drug smuggling to support his cocaine addiction. But a run-in with the Peruvian police on a smuggling trip lands him and two friends in a prison called The House of the Devil. The guards say they expect them to try to escape, but if they don't make it they are killed. Even so, they decide to do whatever it takes to get out. Eddie shares his story of being Locked Up Abroad and the terrifying events that led to his freedom.

It's 1979 and Chicago mobster Frank Cullotta heads to Las Vegas for more opportunity. His Hole in the Wall gang becomes notorious for their high-stakes robberies. Eventually, his thievery comes to an end when the FBI catches up with him. They want him to testify against his mob. While not exactly locked up abroad, he enters the witness protection program. Now speaking out, Frank shares secrets from his life in the mob and spills on the jewelry burglary that got him locked up sort of.

Locked Up Abroad comes home to the United States to visit 19-year-old street racer Rick Cedar in Spokane, Washington. When he finds out his girlfriend is pregnant, he's overwhelmed. Short on cash, Rick decides to use his knowledge of cars to scam people online into buying engines he'll never send them. His con catches up to him when one buyer comes knocking down his door with threats. To pay him back, Rick decides the only way out is deeper into crime.

When British schoolteacher Howard Marks agrees to help an old friend finish off a drug deal, he has no idea that it will be the start of a new career. Attracted by the easy money and the thrill of being a smuggler, he is soon running a huge transatlantic operation. But when one of his loads is busted, Howard becomes a wanted man and goes on the run. Concealing his identity using a string of aliases, he continues to smuggle over the next 6 years.