BELIZE GANG LIFE

The third outing of the BAFTA-winning documentary series takes Ross Kemp (pictured) to the smallest country in the Americas, Belize. With a population of just over 300,000, Belize is a major transit point for cocaine trafficked from Colombia to the US. With a serious gang problem it has become one of the most dangerous countries in the world. There are hundreds of semi-automatic weapons in the hands of gangs and the country has a per capita murder rate five times higher than the US; 98% of it is gang-related.

Meeting reformed gangsters, Ross is introduced to the dangerous streets of Belize City and the gangs that control them. Witnessing just a fraction of the weapons that make this city so violent, Ross learns that the weapon of choice for gangs on the streets is the grenade. Travelling to the notorious Southside of Belize City, Ross joins the police on a dawn raid as officers attempt to the tackle the epicentre of the problem.

The George Street Crew are the most feared gang in Belize City, operating as local enforcers for the Mexican and Colombian drug cartels. In 2004, the gang's leader was sentenced to 33 years in a Miami prison for smuggling more than 10 tonnes of cocaine into the US. Ross meets Jason Brown, the current leader of George Street, along with a collection of his lieutenants. Winning the trust of Brown, Ross is given an insight into the reality of gang life and discovers that it poses as many questions as it gives answers.