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Dan SaladinoHostRob WilsonGuestFlorian SteinGuestDaveGuestCaroline DarifeGuestRichard CookGuestWilliam DekkerGuestElisabeth ValléeGuestPawel ZastrzynskiPeter WoodGuestShaneGuestspeaker_13speaker_9Guestspeaker_8Guest
[crowd chatter] Inside a tropical forest, a crowd of people are gathered around a crashed airplane.

From a distance, it's possible to make out the mangled wreckage of white and yellow metal surrounded by tall banana plants.


On the ground, surrounding the wreckage, are thousands of tiny worm-like creatures four centimeters long and pale in color, almost translucent.

It appears the private plane was carrying a shipment of live baby eels, part of a lucrative and sometimes illegal global trade.

[crowd chatter] For the past four years, in a co-production between the World Service's investigative arm, BBC Eye, and a German production company, DocDays, a team of journalists has been investigating the networks involved in moving what is now one of the world's most endangered fish species, the eel, across continents.

And in this edition of The Food Program, we'll be bringing you the findings of that investigation.
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“Now the money trail gets complicated fast”
“Watch what actually happens on arrival”
“A heartbreaking end hits the industry”
“The conservation premise faces tough scrutiny”
“Here’s the clearest guidance from science”
“A blunt assessment of policy decisions”
“A counterpoint challenges zero-catch calls”
“A frontline plea meets bureaucracy”
“Understanding the scale of illicit trade”