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Will Arnett Was So Disturbing as a Human Trafficker During His SVU Appearance

Comedian Will Arnett served up nothing but chills during his 2002 SVU appearance.

By Jessica White

Few of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit celebrated guest appearances were as shocking when the typically hysterical comedian Will Arnett took on one of his darkest roles ever in Season 4, Episode 6 ("Angels").

How to Watch

Watch Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Thursdays at 9/8c on NBC and next day on Peacock.

Detectives Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) have tackled dozens of troubling cases throughout the years, but when kids are involved, the stakes are that much higher. After uncovering a murdered pedophile with connections to a human trafficking ring disguised as a travel agency, all hands were on deck in the squad room.

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The episode is a vintage SVU classic, and the Twisted Metal star delivered a haunting performance as the ringleader in this 2002 SVU nail-biter.

Will Arnett

Who did Will Arnett play on SVU?

Arnett guest starred in SVU Season 4, Episode 6 ("Angels") as the horrific human trafficker, Anthony "Tony" Damon.

Damon was the founder of the Global Voyages Travel Agency — a front for a pedophile sex ring. The ring catered to wealthy pedophiles, and had two main lines of business: arranging clients' trips to foreign countries where they would assault children and videotape the act as sinister keepsakes; and trafficking children to the U.S. with forged adoption papers to sell them to clients.

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He was initially suspected in the murder of one of his clients, but was not the perpetrator.

Will Arnett attends the Los Angeles premiere of Searchlight Pictures' "Next Goal Wins"

What happened to Will Arnett's character Tony Damon on SVU?

The episode began after the body of a young boy was found stashed in the cargo hold of a bus as another boy fled the scene. After Benson and Stabler observed the crime scene and tracked down the boy, they learned he was a human trafficking victim named Ernesto (Pablo Santos), who had been smuggled into the U.S. from South America via boat with the dead boy. The two had subsequently gotten away from their captor, Bret Jansen.

However, when the squad raided Jansen's home, they found him brutally murdered and with his genitals surgically removed.

In the course of investigating the two murders, the squad crossed paths with Damon, who became a top suspect after telling them that Jansen once made a comment about removing his genitals.

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The squad then discovered that Jansen and Damon were both involved in an elaborate human trafficking ring and found documents suggesting that Damon was booking his clients' pedophilic pleasure trips to third-world countries. Needing hard evidence, the squad set out to catch him in the act.

Detective John Munch (Richard Belzer) went undercover and arranged a meeting with Damon, who told his client that the "entertainment" package for his trips could include either boys or girls, and further revealed that he was working with an adoption agency with children aged five and up. Munch then arrested Damon while the squad raided his office.

Back at the precinct, Damon pointed out that they'd need a victim to prove he committed a sex act, and Stabler lost his temper. When he began hitting the suspect, Damon confessed to booking foreign sex tours for pedophiles but maintained that he didn't participate in the ring or kill Jansen.

He thought that he was being framed by one of his clients, Dr. Steward Lynch (Patrick Cassidy).

"Make me a deal, and I will give you Lynch on a silver platter," Damon pled with the squad.

After raiding Dr. Lynch's home — and finding him watching one of the sex tape souvenirs from Damon — they brought him in for questioning. Lynch revealed that children were, in fact, being smuggled into the country by Damon, who wasn't a pedophile but rather viewed his victims as merchandise.

Desperate to reduce his sentence, Lynch then gave the names of several of Damon's other clients, uncovering over a dozen pedophiles who had "adopted" their victims to continue the abuse.

Lynch, however, hadn't killed Jansen either: That was the work of another pedophile in the ring who also served as the victims' dentist, Walt Massey (Michael Hayden).

Watch this or any episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on Peacock.