♪ heads to the philippines, where president duterte is waging a deadly drug war. users are doing whatever it takes to escape it. in the u u.s., an opioid epidec is sweeping the country. millionsns are addicted to h hn and prescription painkillers, but help for addicts is hard to come by. first we go to mexico, where one state is trying to tackle corruption with a female-only traffic unit. more than six billion people live in a country with a serious

corruption problem. this costs developing nations an estimated $1 trillion u.s. per year. but the global fight against corruption is gathering pace. in russia, young people haveve been takaking to the s streets. in south korea, public demonstrations helped topple the president, who's now standing trial on graft charges. there's also growing unrest in morocco, where thousands have been protesting government corruption and abuse of power. for months now, people in brazil have been demonstrating in support of a police probe into high-level embezzlement and bribery. in mexico, meanwhile, corruption is part and parcel of everyday life. reporter: it's 6:30 in the morning and time for the boss to be picked up. 400 traffic police officers are under the command of commandante rosalba. her unit is made up entirely of women.

their job is to restore public faith in the police force. the morning ritual is always the same -- rosalba urges her troops to respect the rights of citizens. such respect is not always a given among mexican police. commandante rosalba travavels hundreds of kilometers every day, keeping an eye on the policewomen under her command. her goal is to ensure there are no mistakes. rosalba: we're not as corrupt as perhaps some of our male colleagues. as a woman, i feel a sense of responsibility. i know very well that if i do something wrong, i can lose my job. reporter: rosalba isn't afraid to intervene personally where

necessary. here, a truck is blocking the street. the chief directs the traffic herself, until a patrol unit arrives to take over. not all of rosalba's policewomen are immune to corruption. there have been individual cases of wrongdoing, drawing a tough response. this truck driver is issued a ticket. there is no protest, and no offer of a bribe. men seem unwilling to try and strike a deal with the female police officers. >> there are rules. i have to do what the officer says. reporter: the exchange is amicable and the driver goes on his way. then it's time for breakfast. the thinking is that if there are more women in the police force, there'll be less police corruption. the theory seems to be working. rosalba: for every 100

complaints about corruption we used to get, now we only get one or two. so it's possible to change. reporter: the female traffic officers enjoy tortilla, eggs and ham for breakfast as much as their male colleagues, but that's where the similarities end. there's anger when the unit watches a video of male police officers extorting bribes from drivers. they've been fighting this kind of behavior for five years. >> we always have to give them something. >> yes, they g get their tip. reporterer: rosalba is adamant that women have more respect for family values and religion. she always keeps a copy of the bible with her. she says the reputation of the male officers is a disaster -- no one trusts them anymore. >> we women are just better. men -- whether they're policemen or not -- just come here to the market to steal from us.

reporter: the clean image the women enjoy also has to do with the fact that the female-only police unit has existed for just five years. it's not burdened by a checkered history, or old structures. rosalba takes a lunch break with her grandson mariano and daughter rosa. her mother's work ininspired ra to become a lawyer, evenen thoh rosalba has a few enemies among her male colleagues. rosa: sometimes people said really bad stuff about my mother. it was pretty mean, and that hurts, of course. but thankfully it seems to have just made her stronger. reporter: it's made rosalbe so strong, that she is now studying law herself in evening classes. she wants to be even more effective in her fight against corruption. rosalba: i don't tolerate corruption. not one bit. if my officers don't do thther work properly, they're going to

have to pay the consequencnce. reporter: commandante rorosalba- as a grandmother, loving and tolerant. but she's one tough cop. host: recent years have seen mexican farmers growing opium poppies to feed the growing demand for heroin in the u.s. its current addiction epidemic began with massive over-prescription of opioid pain relievers in the 1990's. with big pharma aggressively marketing the drugs and downplaying their addictive nature, sales quadrupled between 1999 and 2014 -- and their potency also increased. the number of addicts -- and drug fatalities s -- is skyrocketing. in 2015 alone, 33,000 people died of an overdose. the government has attempted to stem prescription opioid abuse by making them less available. as a result, more and more people are now switching to heroin. according to a recent national

survey, nearly 2.6 million americans have used heroin. reporter: corey long is 24. he likes to play guitar. he has a girlfriend, a high school diploma, and a job. and he is a recovering heroion addict. opioid drugs were once considered a problem exclusive to america's inner cities. but in the past few decades, they have also crept into the lives of wealthy suburbanites. corey started using heroin in an attempmpt to improve his socil life.. cocorey: there was a pattern y whole life of feeling g like i wasn't good enough in friend circles, feeling like people didn't really want me around, feeling less than. and when i met these friends that i was -- that i started doing drugs with, i felt the complete opposite. i felt like i fit in completely, i felt like we were all the same, they wanted me there. reporter: corey was one of the

lucky ones. he had a supportive family, a steady job, and a roof over his head. but heroin took a serious toll on his life, as he watched his friends die from overdoses and experience drug-induced psychosis. corey: i was either masking my withdrawal or masking the fact that i was high constantly -- at work, around my dad. it was just mentally exhausting, the web of lies that comes with using a drug like that. reporter: mike gimbel is a counselor and a consultant at the maryland addiction recovery center. he's also been a recovering addict for the past 44 years. the current opioid epidemic has to do with doctors over-prescribing pain medications to patients, and international cartels introducining new kinds of porfrful syntheticic drugs lie fentanyl to the market. mike: why aren't we dealing with

it? there's a lot of denial in certain areas. middle class neighborhoods or schools, they don't want to admit that their kids are doing heroin. families don't want to admit it. by the time they find out, sometimes it's too late. so it's a matter of waking up the public about this awareness, and then the government is certainly not doing their job in providing the resources. treatment -- that's treatment resources -- number one on the list of what we need thahat doesn't t exist. reporter: but as opioid-related deaths continue to increase across the country, ththe u.s. government is beginning to take the problem seriously. in march 2017, the governor of maryland declared a state of emergency to combat the epidemic. but with many people ending up in jail before they manage to find a treatment program, gimbel saysys more funding is needed. mike: $35,000 to $40,000 a year

to keep someone in prison. and they come out, and 70% go back. we can treat them in one of these residential programs for probably $10,000 or $15,000. and we have a lot better success rate in treatment than we do in incarceration. we need that money. if we're willing to pay for it for jail, we should be willing as a country and a government to pay for the treatment. reporter: corey long now also works at the addiction recovery center, helping other addicts through the difficult process of getting clean. two years clean himself, he is now looking forward to the future. corey: i'm really excited to be moving in with my girlfriend, and starting a life with her. i'm also excited to be able to devote more time and space to my music. reporter: according to estimates, only 20% to 40% of drug users ever fully recover. but corey is optimistic he's beaten the odds.

with the help of his loved ones, he's ready to move on. host: the destructive force of substance abuse. it's also a problem inhe ilipippines, whehere presisidt rodrigo duterte is waging a bloody crackdown on the drug trade. a lucky few have been able to find help. reporter: uniforms are compulsoryry, here at t the trtreatment and rehahabilitatn cecenter for drug addicts at cp bagong diwa in metro manila. patients wear white t-shirts with red shorts, which either they or their families have paid fofor. those sent to rehab with dr. leabrereuros a month. 80 euros those whwho can't afford the fs are e given subsidies. dr. leabres: our challenge is to help people ununderstand that n addict has a mededical conditi.

he can be a friend, he can be relative, hehe can be your son,r your husband or wife -- and all of this is p part of you. lp them. reporter: but not everyone is heeding this message. elected president in 2016, rodrdro duterte e is waging wawn drugugs. 8000 suspect d drug pushshers d ususers have beeeen lled, mamat the hands of the police e or so-calalled death squads. more than a million have voluntarily turned themselves in and gone to prison in a bid to survive. the prisons are filled to bursting. and for these people, going cold turkey is a matter of life or death. others volunteer to go into hab, but worry about t their families on n the outside. >> the killings aren't right. since duterte has been in power, i've been afraid for my life. it's safer here.

i alsoso need to t think abouy wi's's sufferingng. my child and my wife are really the worst t affecteded. reporter: treatment is supposed to entail training, occupational therapy, counseling, and followow-up care. but with only 1212 doctors per 1000 inmates, , it's impossibleo see through. and the total count of drug users in the philippines could be as many as four million. president duterte's drug war has been descrcribed as mass murde. but he's proud of what his country is doing to counter the poverty-fuelled wave of drug addiction. a chinese tycoon funded this giant new rehabilitation center. an irony, some might say, given the role played by chinese gangs in the philippine drug trade. president duterte: i will not allow my country to sink like colombia. i will not stop until the last pusher, until the last drug lord

is exterminated. that will be the rule e of the day. reporter: 100,000 square meters of space for 10,00000 addicts. but just 186 patients are being treated here. there's a serious doctor shortage. there are only 13 federal drug clinics, so lolocal governmens are at the forefront of the fight against drugs. in olongapo, the mayor has former addic buildining coffins provided to poor families who can't pay for funeral services. robert: since i began taking part in the mayor's project, i finally have work. it was good that i turned myself in. reporter: for many of the former addicts, this is the first time they've had a chance to learn skills and earn a wage.

angelito: we have hope once again. something's changed. someone cares about us -- the mayor and the department for business start-ups. reporter: mayor rolen paulino hands out chocolates and chats with the trainee craftsmen. he wants to turn the jobs-for-addicts scheme into a cooperative that builds and sells furniture. mayor paulino: i said, do it properly and change yourselves, otherwise the coffin you are making might be your own. reporter: elsewhere, recovering drug users are encouraged to exercise and eat well. joan: we see zumba as a priority. the participants can detox their bodies, and they can make new

friends. and then they are more likely to cooperate in our program and to get healthier. reporter: that's the theory. but it will be difficult to improve the addicts' long-term behavior if they have no livelihood and no motivation to change their habits. julie: lifestyle -- if you want to be poor, you always want to be poor. you just want to ask something from those who have already. if you don't have any notions, visions in life, to elevate your conditions in life, that's the problem. reporter: those who are here apparently do want to change, and help is available to them. pickled milkfish is a big seller at markets across the philippines. cleaning it and preparing it is a way of earning a living.

benjie: i have a hard time working with food -- i always left that up to my wife. i used to just sit down at the table when i got home. but i've got better. i want to change while i'm here. reporter: the patients at the bagong diwa rehab clinic need more than occupational therapy programs. proper treatatment can help evn the e toughest of ininmates. how do you feel, asks dr. leabres.s.fine, ana. lonely? no, i'm happy, h he sa. i've learned my lesson and i willll change my lifife. hihispell l in rehab m might e been rough, but it probably saved his life. out on the streets, the killing continues, overseen by the president himself. host: what can be done to help drug addicts?

series. this is when we meet peoeople dedidicated to conserving our natural world. this week we're in the serengeti national park in northeast tanzania. a populalation explosision hase hand in hahand with growing demd for grazing land for livestock. the trouble is, wildlife n nees it, too. our reporter inga sieg and cameraman axel warnstedt went to tthe serengeti to see how thees park and the region around it are faring. reporterer: these lions don't ed to wororry where theirir next l wiwill come fromom. millions of wildebeeeest, zebrs and antelope traverse the serengeti national park every year in the largest mammal migration in the world.

but the parkrk is in danger. conservationists rian and lorna labuschagne have been working in national parksks for over 30 years. n now they're here in te serengeti, fighting to protetet labusits ananimal populations.in rianan: any illegagal poachinr killing g of animals i is a prm for that ecosystem, because it puts it out of balance. here in the serengeti, here they use this snaring method which is devastating on big populations of wildlife. everything will be killed. mostly wildebeest, zebra, impalas, but if they put up a whole snareline somemetimes ovr 100 snares, what ever goes in there. reporter: this patrol unit is made up of park rangers and former poachers. they've collected more than 100

snares today. most of ththe poachers come frm villages on the edge of the park. rian: they know how to do it, they have got years and years of experience.. animals walk into the snare and the cablewire pulls tight around the neck, sometimes around the foot, and the animal is then strangled and killed. reporter: the animals of the serengeti know no borders. there are no fences in the park, and animals and humans live in close proximity. masegeri rurai lives in the serengeti buffer zone. his job is t to safeguarard the papark, and that means proteteg it against h humans. the current population of tanzania is 50 million. but that could double in coming decades.

masegeri: population growth for the serengeti means more increased consumption of natural resources, and that means more pressure for the wildlife. bushmeat, hunting, and also grazing. livestococis increasasingly a g problem. [crowd singing] reporter: cocoba is a community bank. it allows up to 30 villagers to pool their savings until they can afford to invevest in something the village needs.

many of the participants in the scheme are former poachers or locals who used to live from their cattle. now they're small bubusiness-ownerers. masegegeri: the gogoal of cocos toto enable communities to b be empowewered economicalally to ge into more sustaiainable economc activivities which support conservation in a more positive way. reporter: in populated areas, domestic animals pose yet another risk to wildlife. cows and goats graze on land the wild animamals need. this is tolelerated on thehe es of the serenengeti, inrdrder o avavoid alienating locals. they administer these areas themselves, and income from toururism is ploughed directly into thehe villages. the edges s of the park k are s spectacular ththan its cenentert a growing number of vivisitors e findintheieir y herere, too.

relations between villagers and conservationists are less tense than they used to be. sospeter: yes, we need more money, we need more money frfrm tourists. but also we need the people, we need to serve the people. documentary written and direrecd byby bernhard grzimek. ththe academy award-winning g m helped make the e park world-famous. nearlyly 60 years later, it's me topical than ever. rian: sometimemes it's difficut for us who come in from the outside, who has to tranansfer w ideas to the tanzanian team

here, to really get the message over. we as frankfurt zoological society stand a little bit away and look at the whole picture from afar, and then we can see shortcomings in certain places where we feel well with experience we have, because we work internationally, experience we have from other placeces. we can bring that exexperienceo the ground and help the locall management to be more effective in what ththey are doing. reporter: back in the buffer zone, masegeri rurai is visiting the new high school. the first -- and only -- one far and wide. masegeri: which animal do you like most? elephant? giraffe? lion? do you know the serengeti is one of the wonders of the world? so we have to keep these animals

by studying science subjects. reportrter: the children are ear to learn english, the second to learn english, the second official language here after swahili. until recently, there was only an elementary school in the area. the new high school was paid for with income from tourism. the children are also taught how valuable the serengeti is to them and to the wholole regio. so it nes s to be wellll looked-after. host: that's all for today. but do get in touch. write to us at global3000@dw.com or via facebook -- dw global

society. see you next time. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

(lively music) - the upper west african ebola epidemic has ended. the foreign nurses and doctors have left, the temporary treatment centers have been packed away.