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Vinnie Jones: Toughest Cops

Everyone knows who Vinnie Jones is, former footballer turned actor with a tough guy image. In this series he sets out to inform us about some of the worlds toughest police forces & the threats they face, straight away it feels like a copy cat job of ross kemps gang series especially with Columbia being the first hotspot he investigates, oh but there is a big difference here.. Why is Jones not featured himself? Well the answers easy, he’s not visiting these locations! He’s only lending his voice as a narrator. While the story of the series is interesting I don’t have anything good to say for having Vinnie Jones promoting it, so is he a footballer or a sports commentator? Because he sure is no ross kemp & the fact he doesn’t step foot in any of these countries just proves he is all mouth & no action.

Episode 1: Colombia

Plagued by guerrilla conflict, kidnapping and drug cartels worth billions of pounds, on an average day in Colombia someone is murdered every 30 minutes and four people are kidnapped.
With a population of 45 million, Colombia is one of the largest countries in Latin America. Bang in the middle sits the infamous capital, Bogota, home to seven million people.

The cops: Four different units are taking on the world’s deadliest criminals: the drug squad, anti-kidnapping snipers, the Metropolitan police and the SAS-trained COPES commandos.

The enemy: The FARC, which stands for The Revolutionary Armed forces of Colombia, have terrorised the nation for over forty years. Originally the military wing of the Colombian Communist party, the guerrilla force aims to overthrow the government and install a communist state. Their bloody campaign has been financed through kidnapping, extortion and drug trafficking. Tens of thousands have died in the conflict and the guerrillas are responsible for more police deaths than any other form of criminal activity.

The stats: 15,000 people a year are killed by firearms, and more than three million illegal guns are estimated to be on the streets.Two thirds of the world’s kidnappings take place here, averaging four a day.Colombia is the world’s number one producer and exporter of cocaine: ever year 700 hundred tons are produced, with a UK street value of £28 billion.

The risks: Four policemen are killed every week in Colombia.

The weapons: More than two per cop, including M4 carbines, M203 grenade launchers, Glock pistols, AR10 sniper rifles and Blackhawk helicopter-mounted GUA-17 Mini-guns.