'Narco Jungle': My trek across the dangerous Darien Gap
Graphic content warning
My first security briefing was harsh. The advice: Sleep with one eye open. Don’t trust anyone. Walk fast. And this: You can’t protect yourself from rape, so take condoms.
And so, when a group of women, deep in the jungle, told me they had just been robbed, humiliated and sexually violated by an armed gang, I was horrified, but not surprised.
For six days our crew documented an unfolding migrant crisis through the Darien Gap, an untamed stretch of jungle that connects Colombia to Panama.
- In search for freedom, Chinese migrants increasingly risk it all by braving the Darien Gap
- From the point of view of W5's Director of Photography Jerry Vienneau
(CTV W5)
In a one-week period, more than 100 women reported being sexually assaulted on the journey.
This is the route we took.
Route through the Darien Gap (CTV W5)
Long used as a cartel pipeline for smuggling cocaine and weapons, the 100 kilometres of jungle has become a highway of human misery.
In 2023, a staggering 520,000 migrants completed the trek through to Panama in their search for a better life in the U.S. or Canada. An even greater number is expected this year. Most are from Venezuela, Ecuador, and Haiti but increasingly they are coming from China.
No one on the Colombian side is keeping track of how many enter the jungle, so there’s no record of how many die trying to cross the Darien Gap.
Three separate times we came across the bodies of those who didn’t survive.
Three separate times, the W5 crew came across the bodies of those who didn’t survive the trek through the Darien Gap (CTV W5)
The Colombian side of the jungle is controlled by the Gulf Clan Cartel. In an interview before the trek, one of the cartel leaders in charge of the lucrative migrant business told me the rules are very strict.
Human smugglers, who call themselves guides, charge the migrants hundreds and even thousands of dollars for safe passage and give the cartel a cut of their earnings.
It’s an industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars every year in Colombia. But the bulk of the trek is on the Panamanian side of the border, where there are no guides/traffickers and where armed groups of local criminals prey on migrants.
Our team includes director of photography Jerry Vienneau, producer Eric Szeto, producer/translator Maria Teresa Scotti, and former British soldier/paramedic Adam Creighton.
From left: W5 directory of photography Jerry Viennau, producer Eric Szeto and producer/translator Teresa Scotti (CTV W5)
We trekked for up to 10 hours every day through swamps, across rivers, over boulders and along rock cliffs. At night we slept in hammocks.
This is about halfway through the trek, gearing up for another harrowing day:
By our last night, most migrants had run out of food and didn’t have access to clean drinking water.
This is my final video diary (where you can faintly hear the snores of Jerry Vienneau, whose hammock was hanging right next to mine):
Watch W5’s 'Narco Jungle: The Darien Gap' in our video player at the top of this article
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Police arrest 3 Indian nationals in killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Human remains found in rural Sask. possibly a decade old, RCMP say
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey is never quitting 'The Price Is Right'
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Local Spotlight
Twin Alberta Ballet dancers retire after 15 years with company
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Canada's oldest hat store still going strong after 90 years
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Road closed in Oak Bay, B.C., so elephant seal can cross
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
B.C. breweries take home awards at World Beer Cup
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Kitchener family says their 10-year-old needs life-saving drug that cost $600,000
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.