With the charm of a family man and the cunning of a criminal mastermind, Tse Chi Lop lived a life cloaked in contradictions.

Behind his mild-mannered demeanor lay the ruthless leader of Asia’s most powerful drug syndicate—a vast empire built on the billion-dollar trade of crystal meth.

How did a seemingly unremarkable man rise to the top of the global narcotics underworld? And how did he evade the grasp of international law enforcement for so many years?

In this episode:

• Dr Hai Luong (@DrHaiThanhLuong), criminology researcher
• Tom Allard (@tom_allard), journalist

Episode credits:

This episode was written and produced by Anna Staufenberg and hosted by Halla Mohieddeen.

Executive Producers: Ney Alvarez and Sandra Ferrari.

Production Managers: Archan Mohile and Bronte Baskin.

Senior Producer: Marthe van der Wolf.

Post-Production Supervisor: Andrés Rivera

Assistant Producers: Leo Danczak, Sophie McNulty, and Catherine Nouhan.

Fact-checking by Ruby Zaman.

Audio editing by Alan Leer.

Music composition by Tom Biddle.

Lead of Engagement: Aya Elmileik.

Engagement Producers: Adam Abou-Gad, Munera AlDosari, and Vienna Maglio.

Al Jazeera’s Head of Audio: Ney Alvarez.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook and YouTube

For nearly 40 years, a secretive colony in the Chilean countryside hid unspeakable horrors: child abuse, torture, and a twisted legacy of Nazism. Colonia Dignidad, led by ex-Nazi Paul Schäfer, thrived not just as a cult but as a brutal tool of oppression during Chile’s Pinochet regime. How did this enclave evade justice for so long—and why did the Chilean government turn a blind eye, or worse, offer its support?

In a story that goes right to the heart of the German and Chilean governments, what justice can the victims themselves hope for?

In this episode:

• Winfried Hempel, (@WinfriedHempel), Lawyer and Colonia Dignidad Survivor
• Evelyn Hevia, (@evelynheviajordan), Colonia Dignidad Researcher

Episode credits:

This episode was written and produced by Anna Staufenberg and hosted by Halla Mohieddeen.

Executive Producers: Ney Alvarez and Sandra Ferrari.

Production Managers: Archan Mohile and Bronte Baskin.

Senior Producer: Marthe van der Wolf.

Post-Production Supervisor: Andrés Rivera

Assistant Producers: Leo Danczak, Sophie McNulty, and Catherine Nouhan.

Fact-checking by Ruby Zaman.

Translation by Diana Larrea Maccise.

Audio editing by Alan Leer.

Music composition by Tom Biddle.

Lead of Engagement: Aya Elmileik.

Engagement Producers: Adam Abou-Gad, Munera AlDosari, and Vienna Maglio.

Al Jazeera’s Head of Audio: Ney Alvarez.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook and YouTube

What if an online game could push teenagers to their darkest edge? The Blue Whale Challenge is rumored to have taken lives around the globe, igniting fear, panic, and speculation between parents. From Russia’s nationwide hysteria to stories of tragic teenage deaths worldwide, the phenomenon shocked millions. But does this deadly game even exist?

In this episode:

• Evgenii Berg (@genuine_berg), journalist
• Elizabeth Tucker (@libby.tucker.39), folklorist

Episode credits:

This episode was written and produced by Anna Staufenberg and hosted by Halla Mohieddeen.

Executive Producers: Ney Alvarez and Sandra Ferrari.

Production Managers: Archan Mohile and Bronte Baskin.

Senior Producer: Marthe van der Wolf.

Post-Production Supervisor: Andrés Rivera

Assistant Producers: Leo Danczak, Sophie McNulty, and Catherine Nouhan.

Fact-checking by Ruby Zaman.

Audio editing by Alan Leer.

Music composition by Tom Biddle.

Lead of Engagement: Aya Elmileik.

Engagement Producers: Adam Abou-Gad, Munera AlDosari, and Vienna Maglio.

Al Jazeera’s Head of Audio: Ney Alvarez.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook and YouTube

Was al-Assad's Syria a narco-state?

Captagon—a deadly, addictive amphetamine—has turned Syria into the heart of a $2 billion drug empire few know about, with the Assad regime at the center of it all. From secret labs to smuggling routes, we uncover how this shadowy network operates and its devastating impact across the Middle East.

With the regime’s fall, what happens to this illicit empire?

In this episode:

• Caroline Rose (@CarolineRose8), director at New Lines Institute
• Dania Albaba (@daniaonfire), expert in addiction psychiatry

Episode credits:

This episode was written and produced by Anna Staufenberg and hosted by Halla Mohieddeen.

Executive Producers: Ney Alvarez and Sandra Ferrari.

Production Managers: Archan Mohile and Bronte Baskin.

Senior Producer: Marthe van der Wolf.

Post-Production Supervisor: Andrés Rivera

Assistant Producers: Leo Danczak, Sophie McNulty, and Catherine Nouhan.

Fact-checking by Ruby Zaman.

Audio editing by Alan Leer.

Music composition by Tom Biddle.

Lead of Engagement: Aya Elmileik.

Engagement Producers: Adam Abou-Gad, Munera AlDosari, and Vienna Maglio.

Al Jazeera’s Head of Audio: Ney Alvarez.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook and YouTube

How far will Western powers go for conservation?

In 2015, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, guards shot and killed an Indigenous boy searching for herbs with his father.

This tragedy spotlights the violence faced by Indigenous communities from international conservation efforts.

Is human life the cost of wildlife protection?

In this episode:

• Fiore Longo (@LongoFiore), campaigner at Survival International (@Survival)
• Members of the Batwa Community

Video episode link:

• https://youtu.be/Ug3zh54s3Tw

Correction at 07:21: The figure here states “There are now only around 250 eastern lowland gorillas in the park." Recent surveys have revised the 2015 population of Eastern lowland gorillas to be c.1,500.

Episode credits:

This episode was written and produced by Anna Staufenberg and hosted by Halla Mohieddeen.

Executive Producers: Ney Alvarez and Sandra Ferrari.

Production Manager: Archan Mohile.

Senior Producer: Marthe van der Wolf.

Assistant Producers: Leo Danczak, Sophie McNulty, and Catherine Nouhan.

Fact-checking by Ruby Zaman.

Audio editing by Alan Leer.

Music composition by Tom Biddle.

Lead of Engagement: Aya Elmileik.

Engagement Producers: Adam Abou-Gad, Munera AlDosari, and Vienna Maglio.

Al Jazeera’s Head of Audio: Ney Alvarez.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook and YouTube

We all know a scamming story: Someone rings or texts you, trying to get your personal information or asking you to log in to your account. But what you might not know is that the person behind that phone could be someone who’s been trafficked and enslaved.

Hundreds of thousands of people are trapped in scamming farms across Southeast Asia. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry, and it’s a chronically underreported story on modern-day slavery.

In this episode:

• Mary Ann Jolley, (@jolleyma), Journalist

Episode credits:

This episode was written and produced by Anna Staufenberg and hosted by Halla Mohieddeen.

Executive Producers: Ney Alvarez and Sandra Ferrari.

Production Manager: Archan Mohile.

Senior Producer: Marthe van der Wolf.

Assistant Producers: Leo Danczak, Sophie McNulty, and Catherine Nouhan.

Fact-checking by Ruby Zaman.

Translation by Fei Liu.

Audio editing by Alan Leer.

Music composition by Tom Biddle.

Lead of Engagement: Aya Elmileik.

Engagement Producers: Adam Abou-Gad, Munera AlDosari, and Vienna Maglio.

Al Jazeera’s Head of Audio: Ney Alvarez.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook and YouTube

Two Americans and one Brit were invited to Communist Cambodia in 1978 to meet the brutal dictator Pol Pot. The Brit is called Malcolm Caldwell, a professor from Scotland, and a big Pol Pot fan.

Just hours after he meets his hero, Malcolm is shot dead. So, who killed Malcolm Caldwell?

In this episode:

• Elizabeth Becker,(@ehb47), journalist and author
• Sophal Ear, (@sophal_ear), political scientist

Episode credits:

This episode was written and produced by Anna Staufenberg, and hosted by Halla Mohieddeen.

Executive Producers: Ney Alvarez and Sandra Ferrari.

Production Manager: Archan Mohile.

Senior Producer: Marthe van der Wolf.

Assistant Producers: Leo Danczak, Sophie McNulty and Catherine Nouhan.

Fact-checking by Ruby Zaman.

Audio editing by Alan Leer.

Music composition by Tom Biddle.

Lead of Engagement: Aya Elmileik.

Engagement Producers: Adam Abou-Gad, Munera AlDosari and Vienna Maglio.

Al Jazeera’s Head of Audio: Ney Alvarez.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

Ruth Thalía’s truth would cost her everything. On national television in Peru, the nineteen-year-old revealed her darkest secrets for a prize, only to be found dead just two months later.

A game show called ‘The Value of the Truth’ launched in South America in 2012. In it, contestants must reveal the most shocking and intimate details about their own lives in front of their loved ones in exchange for a prize jackpot.

So, who murdered Ruth Thalía? And how much is the truth worth?

In this episode:

• Neil Giardino, (@NeilGiardino), Journalist

Episode credits:

This episode was written and produced by Anna Staufenberg, and hosted by Halla Mohieddeen.

Executive Producers: Ney Alvarez and Sandra Ferrari.

Production Manager: Archan Mohile.

Senior Producer: Marthe van der Wolf.

Assistant Producers: Leo Danczak, Sophie McNulty and Catherine Nouhan.

Fact-checking by Ruby Zaman.

Audio editing by Alan Leer.

Music composition by Tom Biddle.

Lead of Engagement: Aya Elmileik.

Engagement Producers: Adam Abou-Gad, Munera AlDosari and Vienna Maglio.

Al Jazeera’s Head of Audio: Ney Alvarez.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook and YouTube