The Boat Into Myanmar: Mariana van Zeller Inside the Scam Compounds Nobody Sees

The Boat Into Myanmar: Mariana van Zeller Inside the Scam Compounds Nobody Sees

Episode 59: Her heart stopped when Mariana van Zeller climbed into a boat to cross into Myanmar. In this episode of Stolen, Erin West sits down with the National Geographic journalist behind Trafficked to talk about the two minutes that separate Thailand from Shwe Kokko — the gleaming, casino-lit city that a Chinese crime syndicate built on forced labor and pig butchering scams.

Mariana describes the dog-and-pony tour, the anti-trafficking posters hung for show, the karaoke night with a criminal gang, and the moment she realized the scammers behind the keyboards were as trapped as the victims they targeted.

Mariana van Zeller and Erin West are two women who've walked the same ground investigating transnational organized crime, money laundering, and the journalism crisis that's keeping the world's largest modern enslavement operation in the dark.

Episode notes and video: https://operationshamrock.org/podcast/stolen

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Episode Sponsors

Thank you to our Stolen podcast sponsors, ‪BioCatch and Scamnetic.‬

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Episoder(74)

Smoke and Mirrors: Scam Crackdowns in Cambodia and Myanmar

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30 Sep 58min

Small-town Police Officer Takes on the Big World of Crypto Fraud (Mike Bliss)

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Episode 70: Mike Bliss didn’t know much about crypto fraud when he met his first victim in August 2025. With coaching from experienced peers, he now investigates fraud cases and helps other officers. ...

23 Sep 34min

How Iowa is Beating Scammers at Their Own Game (Matt Mortvedt and Jessica McGraw)

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Episode 69: Iowa has found a way to stop elder financial fraud on the very first transaction — before the money is gone. Matt Mortvedt and Jessica McGraw of the Iowa Insurance Division join Erin West ...

16 Sep 44min

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A Detective’s Journey from Street Patrol to Chasing Stolen Crypto (Scott Simons)

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26 Aug 58min

Romance Scam Revisited: Life After “The Tinder Swindler” (Cecilie Fjellhøy)

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Romance scam survivor Cecilie Fjellhøy helps expose fraud — and find justice for fraud victims. Well-known for Netflix’s The Tinder Swindler documentary, Cecilie Fjellhøy joins Erin West to expose the...

19 Aug 56min

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Episode 66: Erin West invites 20-year fraud-fighting veteran Lenny Gusel of Feedzai — former Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Robinhood fraud leader — to talk about why banks are the last line of...

12 Aug 55min

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5 Aug 31min

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