National Geographic has announced that the nine-time Emmy Award-winning investigative series Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller will return for its highly anticipated new season on Saturday, July 19, at 9/8c.
Known for her fearless reporting and unparalleled contacts with the world’s most dangerous black markets, Emmy, Peabody and duPont Award-winning journalist Mariana van Zeller pulls back the curtain on global criminal enterprises—from cartels and scammers to militant extremists and underground drug labs.
The new season kicks off with a groundbreaking look into the operations of Mexican cartels inside the United States. From small-town drug cells, van Zeller explores how these criminal groups move drugs, launder billions, and even infiltrate law enforcement. It’s a growing influence that’s fueling violence and addiction across the country.
Each episode follows van Zeller as she connects with traffickers, militias, scammers, smugglers, and law enforcement across the globe to investigate the inner workings of a multi-trillion-dollar shadow economy. From high-level criminals to frontline victims and government insiders, van Zeller’s reporting offers a 360-degree view of the forces shaping our increasingly interconnected, and blurred, legal and illegal economies.
Trafficked: Underworlds With Mariana Van Zeller was nominated for 29 News and Documentary Emmys, the most nominations for an unscripted series in a single year in the history of television. The series won four Emmys, including Outstanding Health or Medical Coverage for “Body Parts,” Outstanding Arts, Culture or Entertainment Coverage for “Illegal Gambling,” Outstanding Crime and Justice Coverage for “Hash Smugglers,” and Outstanding Lighting Direction – News for “Illegal Gambling.” The series won five News & Documentary Emmys in 2024, including Outstanding Science and Technology Coverage for “Cyber Pirates,” Outstanding Business, Consumer, or Economic Coverage for “Black Market Babies,” Outstanding Video Journalism: News for “Terrorist Oil,” Outstanding Editing: News for “Ghost Guns,” and Outstanding Lighting Direction: News for “MDMA” The series received a Critics Choice Real TV Award nomination for Best Crime/Justice Show for two consecutive years in 2021 and 2022 and a Critics Choice Documentary Award nomination for Best Ongoing Documentary Series in 2023. The series was a Gracie Award winner in 2024 for Documentary Series.
Trafficked: Underworlds With Mariana Van Zeller is produced for National Geographic by Muck Media. For Muck Media, executive producers are Mariana van Zeller, Darren Foster, Jeff Plunkett and Jeff Allen. For National Geographic, Sean David Johnson and Chad Cohen are executive producers, Bengt Anderson is senior vice president of Unscripted Content, and Tom McDonald is the executive vice president of Global Factual and Unscripted Content.
Watch a trailer for the new season below:
By News Room
