Ross Kemp: Mafia and Britain - Season 1

The renowned actor, journalist and investigator reveals the surprising and deep-rooted influence the Mafia has within the United Kingdom - unveiling the Mafia bosses, capos and hitmen who work next door, from caravan parks to shoe shops, cafés to newsagents. He begins in London, recalling 1982 when the body of the so-called 'God's Banker', Roberto Calvi, was discovered under Blackfriars Bridge with his pockets stuffed full of foreign currency from all over the world.

To uncover how the mafia has worked in the UK, Ross heads to New York. Meeting Salvatore ‘Crazy Sal' Polisi, a mafia enforcer in the 1970s, Ross learns how in the 1920's British bootleggers exported alcohol to the US during prohibition and in doing so helped build the mafia.

Going out on a raid with the army, Ross finds out just how prevalent cocaine is in Colombia. He then heads up into the mountains to hear about the Cali Cartel from the son of its founder. . . Gilberto Rodriguez.

In 1978, a century-old extradition treaty between the UK and Spain expired, and there was suddenly little chance of fleeing British criminals being sent home to face trial - the Spanish coast was seen as a safe haven. As the eighties drew to a close it became more than just a retirement centre for criminal masterminds. Ross meets some of the old-school British criminals and discovers more about how the Italian mafia took the Colombian cocaine from Spain into the UK.

Ross visits a village in Calabria known to be a stronghold of one branch of the mafia where he discovers the true extent of their powers and the secret passages they use to escape the authorities. From there he goes onto meet the state prosecutor in the region who reveals the role London as played in his investigations.