The BEST episodes of Stacey Dooley Investigates
Every episode of Stacey Dooley Investigates ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Stacey Dooley Investigates!
Stacey Dooley investigates the new frontlines of the global war on drugs, heading to remote and hostile regions to meet producers, traffickers, the authorities, law enforcement agencies, and addicts and locals caught in the crossfire
#1 - Meth and Madness in Mexico
Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/7/2015
Stacey Dooley returns with another hard-hitting series lifting the lid on the global war on drugs. Heading to remote and hostile regions, she investigates who's really winning this cat-and-mouse battle between the drug cartels and the police. Along the way she reveals the impact that the west's insatiable desire for more potent drugs is having on the people caught in the crossfire. To begin, Stacey is on the trail of the world's most addictive and dangerous drug. Her journey takes her to Mexico, now the world's largest producer of meth, where she discovers that the battle between the cartels, the police and vigilante groups is threatening to overwhelm the very fabric of the state. She joins the army as they track down and destroy the meth super-labs that are now appearing across the country. But she learns that as soon as one lab is dismantled, others replace it. She tracks down hit men and traffickers who work for the cartels and hears shocking stories of violence from the families of their victims. It becomes clear that the power of the cartels now reaches into every corner of Mexican life and the authorities are increasingly powerless to stop it. Stacey discovers that in some places local people have become so desperate that they are taking the law into their own hands and setting up their own vigilante groups to try and fight off the cartels. With heavily-armed police, cartels and now vigilantes all squaring up against each other, Stacey reveals a country in danger of descending into chaos and disorder.
#2 - Booze, Bar Crawls & Bulgaria
Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/30/2013
Stacey Dooley travels to Sunny Beach in Bulgaria, which is fast overtaking Magaluf and Kavos as the favourite party destination for young Brits. Stacey uncovers the consequences of a no-rules party scene, where alcohol has the lowest prices in Europe and bar crawls of up to 400 people dominate the strip. She sees what the young Bulgarians working on the resort really think of the British drinking culture and reveals some of the devastating consequences when things go too far. Stacey investigates the easy access British tourists may have to illegal drugs and questions what the authorities are doing about it. In one of the poorest countries in Europe, Stacey visits a part of Sunny Beach many of the tourists don't get to see and spends time with some of the Roma Gypsy community who are blamed for much of the crime on the resort.
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#3 - Sex, Stags and Prague
Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/7/2013
Stacey Dooley investigates a stag's last night of freedom in Prague, a no-holds-barred city that caters for a man's every whim. She meets some of the thousands of girls who are paid to entertain Prague's male visitors and reveals how they really feel about their work. She discovers how the city is littered with brothels thinly disguised as massage parlours and gentleman's clubs, and reveals how the tough competition is putting pressure on the girls to go further and further. Stacey joins the police on patrol to see the daily struggles they face to protect the tourists and mop up the trouble they cause. She also uncovers how the large groups of drunken men become easy prey to Prague's criminals, which the police are struggling to stop. Through unprecedented access, Stacey uncovers the darker side of Prague.
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#5 - Kenya
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/9/2011
Stacey Dooley visits Kenya, were she see's how little of tourists money actually goes to the local people. After spending some time in an all inclusive hotel, she heads down the road and joins in a protest against a current expansion which will see the locals cut off from their only water supply. She meets with the Kenyan minister of tourism to find out what he has to say on the issues.
#6 - Cocaine Capital of the World
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 8/12/2013
Stacey Dooley investigates why Peru has taken the title of the world's cocaine capital. Her journey starts in Lima where she meets the Brits locked up in Peru's jails for smuggling cocaine to Europe. Travelling into the countryside she then discovers how alarmingly easy it is for cocaine to be grown and produced here. Stacey joins government forces as they launch a major crackdown in an attempt to destroy this multi-million dollar industry - but will the fightback be enough? Finally she travels deep into the rainforest where farmers are growing a new super strain of coca plant. Able to grow in damp jungle conditions it threatens to open up millions of new acres to coca production and flood the world with even greater quantities of cocaine.
#7 - Kids with Machetes
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/8/2009
Stacey Dooley heads to the Ivory Coast, were she finds out about the exploitation of tens of thousands of children who are believed to be working in the cocoa plantations. Many of the children are working for next to nothing and carry around heavy machetes. Stacey looks at why it's happening and what is been put in place to stop it from continuing.
#8 - Sex Trafficking in Cambodia
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/14/2010
Stacey Dooley explores the issue underage sex trafficking in Cambodia, investigating how thousands of young girls are being sold into sexual slavery often by those they trust the most, their family. She confronts the problem head on as she joins the police on raids to shut down brothels and learns the harsh realities for girls who are trafficked and abused in the sex industry Cambodia is a country that is still rising from the ashes of a brutal civil war, where the Khmer Rouge committed mass genocide. Now it is becoming a must-see destination for budget backpackers and luxury travellers alike. But it has also become infamous for another reason - the horrific availability for underage girls available for sex, attracting sex tourists and paedophiles. It is thought that around a third of the estimated 100,000 sex workers in Cambodia are under the age of 18. Stacey starts her journey in the capital Phnom Penh's red light district, where thousands of these girls are thought to be working. Here she sees how young girls are paraded in front of local Cambodian men in bars. She meets a young girl who describes how she was trafficked when she was just 12 years old - she thought her aunt was taking her to school but found herself sold into sexual slavery from which she has never escaped. Stacey then goes on a road trip with 18-year-old Alang to the backstreet brothels and gangland areas where sex is the only commodity that's recognised. Stacey sees for herself how poverty is driving adults to sell their own children into a horrific underworld from which it is hard to recover. But with the help of a charity she also sees how it is possible for these girls to lift themselves out of the mire and start a new life.
#9 - Thailand
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/28/2011
Stacey Dooley heads to Thailand, she wonders how people can holiday there so cheaply as it's fast becoming one of Britain's favourite holiday destinations. Stacey begins her journey in Phuket, where after beginning her journey as a tourist, she then starts work as a chambermaid, working for as little as 4 pound a day, while having to clean 14 rooms. She visits were the employees live and see's some of the sacrifices that they have to make.
#10 - Ecstasy Wars
Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/14/2015
Stacey Dooley returns with another hard-hitting series lifting the lid on the global war on drugs. Heading to remote and hostile regions, she investigates who's really winning this cat-and-mouse battle between the drug cartels and the police. Along the way she reveals the impact that the west's insatiable desire for more potent drugs is having on the people caught in the crossfire. Stacey follows the trail of the world's best-selling party drug, Ecstasy (aka MDMA), from the forests of Asia to inner-city drug dens in America. Her journey starts in Cambodia, the source of Ecstasy's active ingredient, safrole oil. Here she joins jungle rangers as they patrol the forests to try to stop criminal gangs of loggers chopping down the trees that produce this rare but valuable oil, the raw ingredient of MDMA. From Cambodia, Stacey follows the Ecstasy trail to Vancouver in Canada which is fast becoming one of the biggest centres of production of synthetic drugs on the planet. She joins the police who face a constant battle trying to locate and shut down the clandestine labs turning the oil into Ecstasy pills. Disturbingly, Stacey discovers that as the police get better at intercepting the shipments of oil, the cooks are turning to other chemicals to make Ecstasy, sometimes with devastating effects. Stacey meets the family of one Canadian girl who took a pill she thought was Ecstasy, but which contained a far more powerful chemical - with lethal consequences. Across the world there's an increasing number of Ecstasy-related deaths, linked to unknown and dangerous chemicals being used in its production. In Atlanta in the US, Stacey tracks down drug dealers selling Ecstasy from their 'trap house'. Here it's outstripping meth and crack as the most popular drug they sell, leading Stacey to conclude that what started as a party drug is now well on its way to becoming a street drug, sold by dangerous, warring gangs across the US.
Watch Now:Amazon
#11 - Kids with Guns
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/7/2010
Stacey Dooley is in the Congo, investigating child soldiers within the democratic republic. It is estimated that 30,000 children have been used within the 14 year civil war in which a estimated 5.4 million people have been killed. Stacey meets up with kids who share their experiences of been a child soldier, she visits a rescue centre for children who are rescued from the war and after freeing 2 child soldiers with a charity also reunites one of the rescue-es with the family that they haven't seen for more then 3 years.
#13 - Crime, Carnage and Cancun
Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/14/2013
Every spring, two million partygoers flock to Cancun for a week or two of pure hedonism - the Mexican resort is second only to Ibiza in the party stakes for young Brits. But as Stacey Dooley discovers, behind this famous spring break hotspot there's a darker side to Cancun that the tourists rarely get to see. Stacey joins the police to see the daily struggle they face to protect the tourists and mop up the trouble they cause. She also spends time with the medics responsible for dealing with the casualties when things go wrong. Investigating what's hiding behind the glossy resorts and brightly lit megaclubs, Stacey finds out why Mexico's military marines and armed police patrol them, and reveals what life is really like for the thousands of Mexican hotel workers who cater to the holidaymakers.
Watch Now:Amazon
#14 - The Cannabis Smugglers
Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/21/2015
Stacey Dooley returns with another hard-hitting series lifting the lid on the global war on drugs. Heading to remote and hostile regions, she investigates who's really winning this cat-and-mouse battle between the drug cartels and the police. Along the way she reveals the impact that the west's insatiable desire for more potent drugs is having on the people caught in the crossfire. Stacey travels deep into southern Africa to investigate the new and incredibly powerful strains of cannabis that are being produced and then smuggled into Britain. Travelling into the tiny state of Swaziland, Stacey meets the farmers growing stronger strains of skunk and confronts the smugglers who are getting rich shipping the drugs across the border into South Africa. Shadowing the police at Johannesburg Airport, Stacey discovers how easy it is to smuggle the drugs out of the country and into Europe - she's on the spot as customs officials uncover packets full of cannabis on their way to an address in east London. In South Africa's townships, Stacey uncovers a darker side to cannabis. Here it is being mixed with heroin and other chemicals to create nyope, a potent new cannabis cocktail that is highly addictive and is now ravaging South Africa's poorer communities.
Watch Now:Amazon
#16 - Thailand's Drug Craze
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 8/20/2013
Stacey Dooley investigates the growing drug craze sweeping through Thailand. Yaba, a dangerous mix of methamphetamine and caffeine, has gripped the nation and unleashed a terrifying wave of violence among its users. She uncovers the human cost, visiting a shocking ward full of 'zombie' addicts, many of whom face the risk of long term psychosis, and she also meets users who have started taking the drug as young as 12. Stacey joins the Thai authorities as they try to fight back, joining patrols near the Burmese border and drug raids on Bangkok bars. In Bangkok she discovers that dealers are starting to target western tourists and asks if this dangerous new drug could soon claim its first victims amongst British tourists.
Watch Now:Amazon
#17 - Europe's Dirty Drugs Secret
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 8/26/2013
Stacey Dooley travels to Ukraine on Europe's far eastern edge to investigate the struggle to keep drugs out of the UK. Stacey reveals that drug cartels from South America have been using Ukraine as a transit hub to smuggle cocaine into western Europe. To uncover why cocaine shipments are taking this 2,000-mile detour, Stacey visits a new frontline in the war against international drug trafficking - the port of Odessa on Ukraine's Black Sea coast. Ukrainian officials show her the tricks traffickers use to hide drugs within cargoes - inside anything from industrial furnaces to excavated pineapples. But she soon learns from a port worker and a former drug trafficker that Ukrainian customs officials are notoriously open to bribes to get cargoes through. Stacey also discovers that, because the drugs smuggled into Ukraine are too expensive for most local drug users, some are resorting to horrific homemade substitutes. Perhaps the worst is 'crocodile', so called because it rots the flesh of users and turns it scaly. Stacey meets some young addicts as they make a batch from bleach, petrol and tablets bought at the chemist. Learning they have only months to live, Stacey is also shocked to hear that police have recently found 'crocodile' in the UK.
Watch Now:Amazon
