Vanguard

- Season 5

(2011)

Correspondent Mariana van Zeller investigates how and why OxyContin has fueled a new heroin epidemic in and around Boston.

A 2-year old, who became a global YouTube sensation in the summer of 2010, has unwittingly become the poster child and symptom of a Big Tobacco-sponsored battle being waged in developing markets. Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel heads to Indonesia, where he exposes Big Tobacco's successful and deadly expansion into that country, and observes the stage being set for a David vs. Goliath battle, as a small, underfunded group of concerned advocates battle Big Tobacco and a government drunk on profits and denial.

Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller investigates Brazil's controversial new plan to wipe out crime, and the criminals themselves, from Rio de Janeiro's favelas before the country hosts the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. We go into the heart of a crack den, embed with special forces soldiers on shoot to kill missions, and even interview the traffickers themselves, who aren't going out without a fight.

Adam Yamaguchi investigates China's lucrative black market for tigers and tiger parts, including conservation centers that some fear are little more than exotic animal factories.

Mariana van Zeller explores the personal stories of just some of the more than 2 million college students who are also illegal immigrants and facing uncertain futures as they prepare to graduate.

Students attend a public high school outside Boston dedicated to serving drug-addicted teenagers.

Christof Putzel reports from Juarez, Mexico, where US guns are fueling deadly drug wars.

In "Islamophobia," Vanguard correspondent Adam Yamaguchi examines the rising tide of Islamophobia on both sides of the Atlantic. Ten years after 9/11, the fear of future attacks paired with the growing number of Muslims across Europe and America has given birth to an aggressive new network of anti-Muslim alarmists.

Americans increasingly seek medical care overseas, because they can't afford it at home. Adam Yamaguchi investigates medical tourism.

Christof compares how US cities deal with weed. It's high times in LA, while NYC cracks down on low-level pot offenses.

Vanguard surveys the growing economic disparity in America, profiling a month in the lives of two families in very different tax brackets.

Christof Putzel moves into Zuccotti Park to explore the Occupy Wall Street movement from the inside. Produced by Brent and Craig Renaud.

Mariana van Zeller explores the fastest growing sport in America - Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). MMA is now a billion-dollar industry, watched by millions on national TV. But increasingly, amateurs are stepping onto the mat and drawing blood. Mariana meets male and female cage fighters to understand why they love this violent sport. And she spends time in a church run by "The Fight Pastor," who ministers a flock of young men who fight for Jesus.