A group of Chinese thugs attack the crew of CBS' 60 Minutes this week, as the Scooby gang tries to follow a trail of "e-waste," the hazardous dismantling of electronic material for salvaged parts.

CBS reports:

E-waste workers in Guiyu, China, where Pelley's team videotaped, put up with the dangerous conditions for the $8 a day the job pays. They use caustic chemicals and burn the plastic parts to get at the valuable components, often releasing toxins that they not only inhale, but release into the air, the ground and the water. Potable water must now be trucked into Guiyu and scientists have discovered that the city has the highest levels of cancer-causing dioxins in the world.

But the components of e-waste are hella lucrative, so a sort of black-market has boomed up around this highly fatal enterprise, something that the Chinese government has turned a blind eye too since the money has proven so good.

Hmm…the government taking a laissez-faire attitude towards illegal activities and strong-arming tactics for the sake of the almighty yen or what have you? Sort of reminds us of our friends, the waskly Somalian pirates!

What is happening off Somalia’s shores is basically an extension of the corrupt, violent free-for-all that has raged on land for 17 years since the central government imploded in 1991. The vast majority of Somalis lose out. Young thugs who are willing to serve as muscle get a job, albeit a low-paying one, that significantly reduces their life expectancy. And a select few warlords, who have sat down and figured out how to profit off the anarchy, make a fortune.

Next week on 60 Minutes: Lara Logan sits down with Somalian pirate, ends up even more pregnant.