[radio chatter]
[man] Heroin has been growing as a problem.
It is something we have to fight.
[officer on radio] Six-eight-forty-five. Shots fired.
[female news anchor] Atlanta police areÂ investigating
an officer-involved shoot-out that left one suspect dead.
[dealer] Do or die, do or die.
Ain't no rules in this shit. Ain't no rules.
[officer on radio] Shots fired.
[siren wailing]
[news reporter] Officials say there's been a major spike in overdoses
with about 300 reported in less than three weeks.
[man] Hey, somebody call 9-1-1.
I have overdosed, like, 23 times.
[user] Last year it was, like, 13.
[officer] Send additional units and a supervisor.
Two-hundred-fifty-six grams of fentanyl, a simple exposure can cause death.
[officer] Get on the ground! Right now!
[dealer] Who want to be broke?
[dealer chuckles] You know what I mean?
[dealer] I'll shoot you right in your face.
[man] Atlanta will eat you up and spit you out,
and won't even think nothing else about you.
Put your camera down for a minute.
[dealer] I've been in the drug game all my life.
In ninth grade I started selling weed.
I moved up to coke about a year later.
Then I went from crack to selling heroin.
[narrator] Smooth has been selling drugs in Atlanta for 25 years.
[Smooth] I've built up a real big name for myself in this city,
so my reputation protects me.
[narrator] Now he is one of the main heroin distributors
in the state of Georgia.
He sells three kilos of heroin every month.
[Smooth] I got guys that come and they drive to another city.
We got cities where we can sell it for $200 a gram,
and they can do this in two, three days, you know, on a brick, half a brick.
[narrator] He's just picked up 58 grams of high-grade heroin for $3,000.
This shit is possibly
one of the most lethal drugs out there.
I have to wear gloves.
I have to wear a mask.
the reason that they ship in fingers is because the Dominicans,
when they basically bring it over,
they use this for the cavities.
This may have been up in somebody's rectum.
[narrator] Smooth as worked with the same traffickers a long time.
They provide a consistent level of quality.
[Smooth] This is part of whatever theyâre using to press it,
it leaves an indentation.
That way you know if you're getting the same one that you had before.
I don't want to see something bad happen to my customers,
because I know that they didn't come to die.
[Smooth] They're only trying to fix the pain and stay afloat.
[narrator] Smooth is an old school dealer.
He believes in building a customer base by selling a quality product.
[Smooth] Everybody that's out here is not gonna get a product this pure.
To compete, I have the confidence
of the people that know that their safety is a concern of mine.
I pay $55 per gram.
When it's all said and done, I'll get $100 per gram.
[Smooth] There's really no other drug like that out here.
This little bit is about $10 right here, so you can imagine
how much I'm getting out of this.
[narrator] Even after cutting the heroin, he'll still triple his money.
[Smooth] You're looking at close to $10,000
once it's all broken down.
This right here, I'm gonna take it to my trap.
The traps that I got, on good days,
we might have a line at the door.
And some of these people got a $200 a day habit.
I don't actually sit in there, but I do receive the breakdown profits from that,
and that really is where I get most of my money from.
[narrator] Atlanta has long been a major trafficking hub
for heroin headed to the East Coast.
But as product fell off the supply chain,
Atlanta developed an expensive heroin habit of its own.
And there's one area that's gained nationwide notoriety
for its rampant drug abuse.
It's known as The Bluff.
Smooth owns two trap houses
in the heart of this prime piece of drug-dealing real estate.
[Easy G] We don't stop.
See? I can't count how many motherfuckas are gonna come.
These motherfuckas are gonna come.
They know it's good.
They want good dope, you know I mean?
They're gonna come where it's good, for real.
[knocking]
Good dope don't sell itself. 24-hour...
- Seven days a week. - Shop always open.
We don't never close.
[knocking]
[Easy G] Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia,
You know what I mean? Right here.
When I first started selling dope, I was goddamn ten years old.
You know you see motherfuckas getting money and shit,
you wanna get money, too.
Who wanna be broke?
[chuckles] You know what I mean?
[Easy G] We get it, we break it down,
and we gonna do whatever to keep it going.
Straight up.
[narrator] Easy G adds baking soda to the heroin
to increase its volume and the profit.
[Easy G] You see how dry it is? It ain't sticky.
This is an ounce right here.
See, me, I test my shit.
[narrator] To test his mix, he hands out a free sample.
They're gonna hit it, you know what I mean?
They're gonna shoot it, whatever we tell them to do,
They're gonna to do it, you feel me?
[Easy G] That how we know goddamn what we got.
Let's see you pay, baby.
You know, touch the clouds. Iâm trying to get high as a 747.
With no landing gear.
Pay in blood, bitch. Pay in blood, bitch.
I'm actually feeling it.
[user] Hey, man, I'm feeling that.
Hey, man, best blow in town, you know?
[user] Hey, this motherfucker got legs on it,
like Michael Jordan, man.
Scale of one to ten... nine and three-quarters.
- Know what Iâm saying? - [Smooth] This shit for real.
- Yeah, shit. - [Smooth] Way better than that.
Better than that.
Hey, man.
I'm feeling rather groovy as a two dollar movie.
[narrator] Easy G's dope hits the spot.
Word of mouth will bring more users to his door.
[knocking]
But more users also brings more attention of the wrong kind.
[Easy G] Shit, right now, you know, it's a safety thing.
Thereâs a million motherfuckers out there and all of them got guns.
[Easy G] And they rob whoever come out there.
And they gonna rob you, shoot you, and kill you or whatever.
Most dangerous place in America.
Oh man, this shit dangerous.
One of the most dangerous, if not the most dangerous.
[narrator] The boom in Atlanta's drug trade
has caused a spike in violent crime.
For trap house owner Smooth, the increase in violence
signals the arrival of competition.
[Smooth] Honestly, I'm getting a little worried
about the future of this game.
[Smooth] You got the new younger generation,
they're getting into the gangs.
Everybody's running around with guns,
and they're not just running around with a small caliber revolver.
[Smooth] You know, these guys feel confident
riding around with a handgun in the car and a machine gun in the trunk.
[Smooth] When that becomes the cool thing, there's problems there.
[narrator] In Atlanta,
an outbreak of turf war is only ever one bullet away
as gangbangers try to muscle in by setting up rival trap houses.
[knocking]
[user] Hello. It's me again.
[dealer] What's up?
[user] I just came here to get some cigarettes.
[user] Who got that boy? Where that boy at?
- [D-Rage] What you have? - [user] I'll take a gram. Gimme two grams.
[user] Lemme get two grams.
[user] Come on, you know I need my fix. Come on, whatâs up?
I'm sick right now.
Come on, I need a fix, man. Oh man, yâall moving slow today
[D-Rage] Get it that shit. Get it, get it, get it.
Oh, you hook me up. All right.
[user] Taste this shit first.
Mmm. Okay.
Yeah, yâall good, all right? Stay up yaâll, be safe yâall.
We sell drugs. Heroin.
[D-Rage] Hell, we Blood.
If you don't leave me the fuck alone, I'll shoot you right in your face.
[narrator] Blood gang member D-Rage has set up shop in a local motel
determined to carve out some lucrative new territory.
[D-Rage] I got a better chanceÂ of sitting over here taking over this block.
and doing what I wanna do over here, because I'm affiliated.
[D-Rage] I just got way more people to call to get drugs from
for a lower price and better quality.
[D-Rage] We are who we are.
Itâs a lot more than affiliation. My affiliation is serious like,
and people are gonna respect that.
♪ Gimme that money G-Gimme that money... ♪
[narrator] Founded in LA in 1972,
the Bloods fought their way to prominence in the crack wars of the 80s.
♪ Gimme that money, mon, mon Gimme that money... ♪
[narrator] Many original members used their drug money to relocate,
spreading their gangbanging gospel far and wide.
♪ Gimme that money G-G-Gimme that money... ♪
[narrator] Now the gang works like a corporate franchise
for robbery, murder, extortion,
prostitution, and of course, drugs.
♪ Gimme that money G-G-Gimme that money ♪
♪ Gimme that money Gimme that money, that... ♪
[D-Rage] I donât think you should do anything
or be involved in anything you ainât willing to die for.
So yeah, Iâm willing to die for what I believe in, what I stand for.
[narrator] In Atlanta,
the Bloods' usual territory runs across the East Side.
But the new turf offers much higher customer traffic,
and they believe higher returns.
If you affiliated and you might be willing to go a little bit farther
than you willing to go about a situation.
[D-Rage] There might just be way more of us than there is of you.
[narrator] The Bloods are notorious
for using violence to secure their dope spots.
We hustle together, everybody hustle.
He got his own play, I got my own play, he got his own play, but...
itâs separate, but itâs together.
[D-Rage] We sell anything you buy.
[D-Rage] Anything you want, we got it.
All day long, non-stop.
Thereâs a little bit of ice there. Look more like molly but thatâs the ice.
[knocking]
[user] Thank you.
[dealer] Iâm in a gang with females, you dig what Iâm saying?
So dealing with females, it's like having a big bag of drugs that never run out.
Certain people want attention, sometimes they want special attention,
maybe even weird attention, but they want it and they pay for it.
[knocking]
Yeah.
[user] A little shit, two of them shit.
- [user #2] Yes. So you hear me? - [user] This little shit.
[narrator] There's one product that's always more lucrative than any other...
heroin.
I make a stack a day. Profit. Shit.
[D-Rage] Maybe about $10,000, about $7,000, $10,000 a week. Yeah.
I wanna be real rich.
[narrator] With his eyes on the prize,
D-Rage is aware he's risking more than a turf war.
[knocking]
[D-Rage] Undercover's.
[D-Rage] Undercover's the biggest thing to worry about.
Find somebody to send in,
and buy some drugs from you. Mark the money, mark the bill.
[D-Rage] And it's a hotel so I serve a lot of people that I never served before.
Once they catch the tail, they work their way on up to the head.
[D-Rage] It's the domino effect.
[narrator] But in Atlanta, the police aren't the only force upholding the law.
[James Caldwell] We risk our lives just like law enforcement.
[narrator] James Caldwell is a bounty hunter.
And he has a history of bringing dealers to justice.
[James] This is like a like a big-time drug for me.
I mean, I'm... It's like chasing that high just like a heroin user.
I mean I eat it, sleep it.
There's nothing more I would rather do than be out here hunting people.
I love it. I love it.
[narrator] There are 18 bounty hunters working in Atlanta,
all paid by bond companies to track down fugitives who skipped bail.
[bounty hunter] Get down on the ground right now!
[bounty hunter] I'ma throw you on the ground.
You're going to the ground.
[narrator] But James is no ordinary bounty hunter.
He's from the hood.
He grew up around gangbangers and dealers, and it's given him an edge.
[James] Drugs are bad.
It's really a dangerous situation, because...
there's a lot of people out here that's losing their lives.
I mean, I got family members myself that are strung out on this stuff,
and you know and I try to talk to them, you know, plead with them.
Just to let them know what I see out here.
[James] This stuff is dangerous. It's very dangerous.
All this area is pretty much controlled by the Blood gang.
This whole little run down through here.
[narrator] James' work often takes him deep into Bloods' territory.
[James] Always pay attention to your surroundings,
because, you know, that person that, you know, you overlooked
might be that person getting readyÂ to put a bullet or something in your head.
Always keep your head on a swivel.
[James] Now this apartment complex that we're about to go in right now,
this is the one.
When I say keep your head on a swivel, you keep your head on a swivel.
Put your camera down for a minute.
[James] Notice that sign saying 'No firearm'?
She ain't paying attention, but that's good. You can pick it back up.
It's amazing to see security here, but that security doesn't mean crap.
These guys pay security.
They pay 'em, you know...
probably what their salary is double.
[James] Now this car right here, if you notice, it doesn't fit.
So what does that tell me?
It's either a drug dealer or somebody that's high up
in the little gang or whatever.
If I start stuttering, or donât say what I seem to be saying,
itâs because Iâm watching.
We're getting looked at they know this vehicle is a lot different
than what they're normally see in here.
Look at this, see? He's throwing his little gang signs up.
[James] He's throwing them up big time.
[James] We don't wanna get them to riled up.
That's the kind of stuff that we look for right there, body language.
We upset 'em a little bit by rolling in here like we did.
[narrator] The Bloods guard their turf zealously.
And individual members can disappear like ghosts.
It can take months to track a Blood down.
["You Won't Break Me" by Peverelist playing]
♪ Yeah I'm a man on the edge Don't wanna push me ♪
♪ You better check where you step Don't wanna cross me, nah nah ♪
♪ They tried to wrestle me down but I'm the bigger man ♪
♪ My time is coming around and I got big plans ♪
I got a couple different places, couple different spots.
This particular spotâs a little more hands on.
The last spot we was at was like...
nah, too much traffic, too much traffic.
[narrator] Rather than deal from fixed traps,
the Bloods are constantly on the move.
Itâs really like youâre mobile, but youâre stagnant at the same time.
It's really like playing chess. that's how I kind of look at it.
Getting up and leaving at any point of time, fleeing the scene.
[narrator] It's their way of staying one step ahead.
[knocking]
[D-Rage] What you want?
What you trying to do here? What's going on?
[user] I just came by here to pick up, get a hit.
[D-Rage] One thing I hate about this shit is the stank ass vinegar smell.
[narrator] D-Rage has just picked up four ounces of low grade heroin.
I don't know. It's almost like fucking...
I don't know, sour.
[D-Rage] You know, the chick I deal with, man.
She do something different with it.
I donât know actually what she be putting on this shit,
but this shit dries up.
And then this shit dry up,
you got this stinking ass vinegar smell to it.
[narrator] With no fixed base and few regular customers,
the gang do not prioritize quality control.
[knocking]
[user] Hey, how's it going?
[user] I'll give you $15.
- [user] I like it, little man. - [D-Rage] Yeah, get rid of it real quick.
[narrator] Bloods in other cities have started cutting their low-grade product
with a deadly opioid: Fentanyl.
Fentanyl can turn even the poorest quality heroin into a super potent high.
But get the dosage wrong, and Fentanyl becomes a killer.
[EMT] See what the heroin does to you?
[woman] Hey! Hey, wake up!
[narrator] At Atlanta airport, it's fallen to Customs and Border Protection
to stop this killer cut from entering the country.
- Sir, did you pack this bag yourself? - [passenger] Yes.
[Customs agent] We're gonna do our job,
gonna start looking at packages, pulling packages of interest to us,
and then start conducting searches.
You just never know what you're going to find.
[narrator] In the cargo terminal,
a suspicious package from China has been intercepted.
It's immediately secured in the airport vault.
We're going to head right over here to our secured area.
- [rings] - Hi, itâs Marcoccia.
- [Marcoccia] Hey, how's it going? - [agent] How are you, sir?
- [Marcoccia] Pretty good, yourself? - [agent] Pretty good.
- [agent] You wanna go inside the vault? - Yeah, let's go inside.
[Marcoccia] Right now we're inside our seizure vault.
The construction of this is similar to a bank vault.
The contraband that we have stored in here is very high value.
Want to make sure that only people who have access has the right to be in here.
We have a two-man rule: No one person can be in here at any time by themselves.
We maintain very strict security protocols,
limited access to the combinations, as well as a sign-in log.
We have camera systems and alarm systems with a very quick response here
in case anyone even foolishly attempts to try to enter into this area.
Over here, 256 grams of fentanyl that was seized
at one of our express consignment locations here in Atlanta.
[narrator] The curse of fentanyl has landed in Atlanta.
The proof is in the package from China.
I'm wearing gloves, because simple exposure
whether inhaled or absorbed through the skin can cause death very rapidly.
[Marcoccia] Fentanyl is coming primarily from China.
It's a synthetic narcotic that is synthesized in a lab,
and is smuggled illegally into the United States.
[Marcoccia] Fentanyl has been attributed to a number of deaths
throughout state of Georgia and throughout the country
and has been an epidemic that we're seeing increasing,
with this type of synthetic narcotic.
[narrator] For old school dealers like Smooth,
the arrival of fentanyl is bad news.
♪ Hard times are coming... ♪
[Smooth] The game has changed severely in Atlanta.
Fentanyl has put a deadly name on dope dealer.
People sell me bricks with fentanyl in it and I didn't know,
and didn't run out real well.
The gangster, they don't care what tragedy they leave behind.
[Smooth] The body count has dramatically increased.
[narrator] Users are starting to crave the kick that fentanyl gives,
but Smooth refuses to put lives at risk.
The need for a goodproduct right now has grown
because people have gotten used to fentanyl,
and if it hasn't killed them yet,
then those are customers that you don't too much get back,
unless you got something that's really really good.
[narrator] To compete, Smooth has to up his game.
[Smooth] This is a little product outta Mexico.
Three ounces right here.
What I have here is better than the shit that I had last time.
The texture is a lot different.
It hadn't been pressed as hard.
This started out a lot darker than it is.
Once it was cut, it lightened up a little bit.
[Smooth] You can only see darker darker tint.
Like, I can see white here.
I see a little, couple specs there.
And that's the original shit right there, that dark.
This right here,
[Smooth] I'm gonna take it to my trap.
I'm gonna let somebody try it raw from the get-go.
[narrator] Smooth drops his new product off
at his trap in The Bluff,
and hopes it won't kill anyone.
[knocking]
[user] What's up guys?
[Easy G] You wanna try this shit?
[Amanda] Yes, it's been a long day.
[Easy G] Do what you want.
[Amanda] Right now I'm using anywhere from a dub
to dime at a time.
It just makes you feel like things are more possible, things more positive.
Even if they're really not, you know?
It's just, it takes... Makes all that anxiety kind of just flood out of you.
[Amanda] When I grew up I wanted to be a musician
or I wanted to be a writer, you know?
Or work in forensics, you know?
I had all these dreams as a child, you know?
And drugs kind of just drained everything of that.
[Amanda] Majority of my high school friends are addicts
or recovering addicts.
I mean, it's sad, but a lot of people that I was friends with growing up,
that weren't addicts, are addicts now, you know?
It's just gotten really big out here.
For real, these folk want dope badder than the motherfuckers on the street.
[Easy G] Shit, every nationality... African,
Chinese, black, white,Â motherfucker high.
Don't give a fuck how old you are and what color you are.
You know what I mean?
Motherfucka wanna get high.
That shit got... that have a nigga feeling so motherfucking good,
you know what I mean?
[narrator] With around four fatal overdoses a day in Georgia,
it's a race against time to get the dealers off the streets.
When bounty hunter James Caldwell went after a Bloods dealer in 2013,
it took three months to bring him in.
[James] We did observe on social media that he is gang-related.
We're gonna say Blood.
Ryan's warrant was issued as a failure to appear in court.
[James] And we talked to his girlfriend, baby mama.
I knew she was lying.
The only ones that don't lie to you are grandmas and ex-girlfriends.
[narrator] The fugitive's name was Ryan Bobbit,
a dealer known for sticking up other dealers
and stealing their drugs by force.
[James] We set up a surveillance outside the apartment complex.
We observed a male shadow go by window.
[James] We know the description of what his girlfriend looks like,
so once we made a... Distinguished there was another male there,
we decided to go ahead and hit the house.
[narrator] After hundreds of hours of surveillance,
James and his partner finally made their move.
[James] You put your game face on. We wanna hit him hard, fast, quick.
We don't want him to have time to think.
I'll expect him to come out guns ablazing.
It's dangerous.
People don't even respect the police anymore,
so there's definitely no respect for bounty hunters.
[narrator] Dealing with any of Atlanta's gangs is risky,
but the Bloods are on another level.
We all have to have a feeling of trust,
because we are dealing each other's lives. We have to watch each other's backs.
[James] There recently was two bounty hunters
that were killed trying to apprehend a suspect.
A good friend of mine, his name was Dre...
He was shot trying to apprehend a suspect.
So yeah, bounty hunters do get injured, hurt,
and lose their life over this.
It kind of puts you on a more heightened situation.
He's a dangerous person.
So we're gonna have to approach him with extreme caution.
[James] I'ma give you two options, okay?
You can open the door and let me search your apartment,
because the name on this warrant has this address on it.
Option number two is, I'm gonna kick the door down
and come in there and search it myself. Okay?
But either way I go, this door is gonna come open.
Open it slow.
[James] It's a very intense situation.
Am I standing in the right position, so I don't get shot right away,
if somebody's trying to shoot through the door.
[James] Open it slow.
[James] The baby: That changes the whole playing field.
- [James] Where's Mr. Bobbit? - [woman] He's not here.
[James] Anybody else in here?
- [woman] My friend. - [James] You mind bringing her out?
[woman] Please come out.
[James] Turn some lights on, please.
[James] We always try to keep our guard up high
and keep ourselves on alert all the way.
- [James] Is this your bedroom? - [woman] Yes.
- [James] What is this room here? - [woman] This is a closet.
[James] You don't know who's in there.
[James] If we're clearing a house, I have to trust his eyes.
You gonna wind up dead if you're not cautious.
[James] Check that washer dryer.
- [James] You clear? - [bounty hunter] All clear.
[James] All right.
[bounty hunter] Once that's clear, slide those up.
[bounty hunter] No, nothing here.
- [bounty hunter] Clear? - [James] Yeah.
[James] Get your ass out of there, now!
Get your fucking ass out of there. Now!
Now! Drop to the ground.
[bounty hunter] Get on the floor. Don't fucking move.
- You move... - [James] Hold up, I got him.
[James] What's your name?
- [suspect] I ain't got one. - [James] What is your name?
- [bounty hunter] What's your name? - [James] Say it!
[James] You're not gonna say it?
Cool.
[James] The good thing about it is we got him off the streets.
He was going out there selling his poison.
I was relieved, I was excited, I was ecstatic,
because number one, that was a big payday.
[James] The percentage that a bounty hunter
can charge a bonding company is 10 to 20% of that person's bond.
It wasn't enough to get me no boat,
but it was enough to go sit back and have a couple beers
and enjoy it and cook some steaks.
[knocking]
[narrator] Even if individual members are picked off,
the Bloods' business model has proved unstoppable.
They're now one of the biggest organized crime gangs in America
with operations in 33 states and over 120 cities.
The pressure on independent dealers like Smooth is immense.
[Smooth] It's getting more dangerous,
because when you're in this game,
your whole family is in the game.
Itâs like waking up, going to sleep, going home,
every minute of my life is this.
And... it's stressful.
Respect is getting lower, life is getting cheaper.
I want to get out of it clean.
[narrator] Smooth wants to quit the dope game,
but for many dealers here,
the only way to do that is feet first.
[Smooth] My message to the gangs is:
Every time you kill people, all you're doing is making it harder
on the way that we make money.
Mr. Bobbit had explained to us about his lifestyle,
and he wasn't too pleased by it, he wanted to get out of it
because he just had a new kid.
[James] After we took him to jail, he was released,
and then was set in a botched drug robbery
where both parties were trying to rob each other,
and he was shot and killed.
Him and another of his partners were shot and killed.
So, he... He passed.
[James] People, you know, they choose their own destiny.
They walk in their own walks of life.
You can only do, you know, what you can do. Talk to them.
You know, try to get them some sort of understanding
of what real life is about,
but that's life, man.
♪ You better kill me first ♪
♪ Before I silence these words Lay me in the earth ♪
♪ You better kill me first ♪
♪ Lay me down on the ground Crucify me ♪
♪ Crucify me ♪