For six days the W5 crew documented an unfolding migrant crisis through the Darien Gap, an untamed stretch of jungle that connects Colombia to Panama. In a one-week period, more than 100 women reported being sexually assaulted on the journey.

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.

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