Just last year, Gadling brought you a first look at a new show on the National Geographic Channel called Locked Up Abroad. The show profiles the harrowing true stories of foreigners who have been arrested or kidnapped while abroad, telling the stories with first person interviews with the victims.

A new season of Locked Up Abroad kicks off on April 1st at 10pm, and Gadling recently had a chance to preview the first episode of the new season. Much like seasons past, it makes for some of the most intense, high-drama television you'll find anywhere on the dial. The inaugural episode kicks off in Peru, with Locked Up Abroad Cuzco.

Sarah and Simon are fast friends from the UK, agreeing to head to Peru for week of fun and relaxation. But little does Simon know that he's being conned by his friend Sarah. Sarah is in deep with a loan shark and has agreed to smuggle cocaine back to Europe in exchange for the payoff of her debts. In one of the more callous displays of human deceit ever on television, she invites her friend Simon to come along without telling him anything about the drugs. Things get ugly when the two are apprehended at the airport. Despite total innocence to the whole smuggling plan Simon spent over a year in a horrific Peruvian prison trying to clear his name.

Don't get me wrong, Locked Up Abroad can be tough to watch. These are certainly emotionally charged stories of individuals forced into bad situations. But much like a train wreck, it can be hard to turn away. You simply want to know how things turn out.

Definitely tune in for the first episode next Wednesday and keep watching Gadling for the latest Locked Up Abroad news.

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Peru