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A dramatic hunt for one of Europe's most-wanted people smugglers, recorded as it unfolds.

Two seasoned investigators go on a dramatic hunt for one of Europe's most-wanted crime bosses. Code-named Scorpion, he's smuggled thousands of people into the UK and is on the run.

'Jaw dropping', 'gripping', 'bingeable,' 'thrilling' - dramatic true stories and investigations that reveal how the world really works.

To Catch A Scorpion: The dramatic hunt for one of Europe's most-wanted people smugglers, recorded as it unfolds. 

BBC journalist, Sue Mitchell, and former soldier and aid worker, Rob Lawrie go on a search for a crime boss: a people smuggler on the run, whose codename is Scorpion. He is one of the central characters controlling the transport of migrants from the European mainland into the UK. 

Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scorpion - leads the Scorpion gang. He's on international most-wanted lists. He started his criminal career in Britain and went on to build a smuggling empire which now spans the globe. 

An international police surveillance operation trapped more than 20 of his gang and almost netted Scorpion himself, but he was tipped off and escaped. 

Sue and Rob, two seasoned investigators, team up to try to do what the police have been unable to achieve: to find Scorpion, to speak to him, to ask him to account for his crimes and to seek justice for the families he has harmed. 

Their investigation takes them to the heart of an organised criminal gang making millions from transporting thousands of migrants on boat and lorry crossings that in some cases have gone dangerously wrong, causing serious injury and putting lives at risk. They witness his operation in action and record as intense situations unfold, where vulnerable people desperate for a better future, put their lives in the hands of ruthless and dangerous criminals. 

As they edge ever closer, they meet the people helping and supporting Scorpion and unpick the financial side of his business funding his luxury life. As they start to understand the man himself, can they garner enough clues to trace his whereabouts?

The Ratline

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Intrigue: The Ratline: A lot going on in Lemberg

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A lot going on in Lemberg

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The criminal charge sheet against senior Nazi Otto Wachter

The criminal charge sheet against senior Nazi Otto Wachter. Barrister and author Philippe Sands investigates the evidence of Wachter's role in mass murder.

The criminal charge sheet against senior Nazi Otto Wachter. Whilst Charlotte Wachter and her children were spending the summer in Zell am See, Otto was in Lemberg overseeing the 'Grosse Aktion' - the mass deportation of Jews to concentration camps. Philippe Sands interviews two Nazi hunters from the US Department of Justice to go through the evidence against Otto. Meanwhile Otto's son Horst continues to maintain his father's innocence. 
Producer: Gemma Newby
Sound design: Neil Churchill
Research: James Everest and Lea Main-Klingst
Original music by Catrin Finch and Sekou Keita
Otto Wachter: Stephen Fry
Charlotte Wachter: Laura Linney
Other parts by members of the BBC Radio Drama Company

Intrigue: The Ratline

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Philippe Sands investigates a story of love, denial, a senior Nazi and a curious death.

Philippe Sands investigates the mysterious disappearance of senior Nazi Otto Wachter in a story of love, denial and a curious death.

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