Inside the World's Toughest Prisons

S01 E01 · 2016-04-20 · 44 min

Honduras

Paul Connolly heads to Honduras, the murder capital of the world, to spend a week living as a prisoner inside one of the most dangerous prisons - Danli Prison.

S01 E02 · 2016-04-27 · 44 min

Poland

Connolly serves time in Poland's Piotrkow prison, a maximun security lockup where the country's most hardened criminals stay in cells 23 hours a day.

S01 E03 · 2016-03-03 · 44 min

Mexico

Mexico's el Hongo prison is home to murderers, hitmen, drug bossess and -- for one week -- Paul Connolly, who experiences life among the inmates.

S01 E04 · 2016-05-04 · 44 min

Philippines

Connolly spends time in two different prisons in the Philippines, where overcrowding, gangs and severe intimidation are a way of life.

S02 E01 · 2018-07-06 · 54 min

Brazil: The Gang Prison

Investigative journalist Raphael Rowe spends a few days -- both as a guard and a prisoner -- inside Brazil's gang-filled Porto Velho Penitentiary.

S02 E02 · 2018-07-06 · 51 min

Ukraine: The Prison in a War Zone

Ukraine's Zhytomyr Prison is operated with a skeleton crew that allows prisoners to freely roam the grounds -- often with potentially dangerous weapons.

S02 E03 · 2018-07-06 · 51 min

Papua New Guinea: The Breakout Prison

Raphael Rowe visits the short-staffed Bomana Prison in Papua New Guinea, where near-constant food shortages keep the facility on the brink of chaos.

S02 E04 · 2018-07-06 · 51 min

Belize: The Prison That Found God

In Belize Central Prison, the inmates are told that rehabilitation comes through God. Raphael Rowe investigates if this evangelical approach works.

S03 E01 · 2018-12-14 · 47 min

Costa Rica: Prison on a Knife-Edge

Though he's no stranger to life behind bars, Raphael Rowe concedes that Costa Rica's La Reforma Prison is certainly among the most intimidating.

S03 E02 · 2018-12-14 · 47 min

Colombia: Narco Prison

While spending a week inside Bogotá's fortress-like prison, Raphael Rowe must negotiate the oppressive atmosphere and deal with an ominous threat.

S03 E03 · 2018-12-14 · 48 min

Romania: Gypsy Prison

Raphael Rowe spends a week at a maximum security prison in Craiova, Romania, where the inmates include rapists, murderers and contract killers.

S03 E04 · 2018-12-14 · 48 min

Norway: The Perfect Prison?

Many prisons aim to punish and demean inmates. Norway's Halden Prison -- as Raphael Rowe is about to see for himself -- does things differently.

S04 E01 · 2020-07-29 · 48 min

Paraguay: The Most Dangerous Prison on Earth

Raphael Rowe spends a week behind bars at Tacumbu prison in Paraguay, where inmates scrounge in the trash in order to pay their own way.

S04 E02 · 2020-07-29 · 45 min

Germany: The Therapy Prison

Schwalmstadt, a 12th-century fortress surrounded by a moat, houses some of Germany's worst offenders, many of whom attend intense therapy sessions.

S04 E03 · 2020-07-29 · 47 min

Mauritius: The Extreme Punishment Prison

The tropical island of Mauritius is home to Melrose maximum security prison, where even the smallest infraction is met with extreme punishment.

S04 E04 · 2020-07-29 · 48 min

Lesotho: Confronting Sexual Violence

An unnerved Rowe contends with aggressive cellmates at Maseru prison, where a high number of inmates are behind bars for rape.

S05 E01 · 2021-01-08 · 52 min

South Africa: The Number Gangs Prison

At Brandvlei Correctional Centre in South Africa, nearly all the convicts belong to dangerous gangs known for lethal stabbings.

S05 E02 · 2021-01-08 · 52 min

Philippines: The War on Drugs Prison

Once again, Raphael Rowe volunteers to go behind bars, this time in the Philippines at Manila City Jail, one of the world's most overcrowded prisons.

S05 E03 · 2021-01-08 · 48 min

Greenland: Prison in the Ice

Greenland's Nuuk maximum security prison houses extremely dangerous prisoners, many of whom grew up alongside the guards now watching over them.

S06 E01 · 2022-09-28 · 45 min

Moldova: The Lifers Prison

S06 E02 · 2022-09-28 · 47 min

Cyprus: The Utopian Prison

S06 E03 · 2022-09-28 · 46 min

Bosnia: The Mafia Prison

S06 E04 · 2022-09-28 · 45 min

Greece: The People Smugglers Prison

S07 E01 · 2023-09-15 · 45 min

Finland: The Free Choice Prison

At Finland's Kylmäkoski prison, Raphael meets violent offenders in the general population wing and bonds with the inmates, while a newcomer is attacked.

S07 E02 · 2023-09-15 · 47 min

Czech Republic: The Crystal Meth Prison

Surrounded by many inmates who struggle with crystal meth addiction, Raphael enters the Pilsen prison and discovers that some habits are hard to break.

S07 E03 · 2023-09-15 · 46 min

Indonesia: The re-programming drug prison

Raphael gets a rare look inside Bangli prison, where drug offenders are forced to join a rehabilitation program and isolation is used as punishment.

S07 E04 · 2023-09-15 · 47 min

Solomon Islands: God’s Own Prison

At the Rove maximum security prison, many of the inmates serve time for sexual offenses while navigating grim conditions and extremely limited resources.