No-Go Zones - World’s Toughest Places | Seven Mile Road, Detroit, USA | Free Documentary

seven mile road in detroit one of the most dangerous no-go zones in the usa those who live or dare to come here are playing with their lives ruled by the seven mile bloods one of the most notorious gangs in the city you can't buy your way to the top i mean it just comes with the respect you get in the street drug dealers hustlers killers and thieves prepared to do whatever it takes to defend their territory killing robbing homicides like a 24 7 365 deer pursued by bounty hunters who hound them down and put their lives on the line every day there's been a lot of execution styles lately in the head two times from detroit's no-go zone death is the main escape route once you're in it they know coming out ugh detroit motown once the engine that powered the american dream but while the wealthier people escaped to the suburbs the bitter reality inside the motor city became all too apparent the former heartland of the u.s automobile industry is teetering on the edge of an abyss poverty crime decay for years detroit has been considered one of the most dangerous cities in the usa and especially infamous is seven mile road this is an area so tough that even the police only dared tread during the day the violent crime rate is five times higher than in the rest of the country in 2018 over 13 000 crimes were reported many more occurred seven mile in particular is the front line for the bloody territorial battles that brutally define this no-go zone detroit is located directly on the canadian border in the u.s state of michigan the infamous seven mile road stretches from one end of the city to the other on the west side the law of the seven mile bloods is in full force it's one of the city's deadliest gangs almost no one knows the true identity of the main members especially not this man gang leader money me i'm accepting my blood i joined the gang it's more like a family thing i come from a long line of blood in our territory they have all the seven miles on the west side today boss money has gathered together his closest capos in confidants one of them is mo boss's right-hand man and the guy who does the rough work and under the jason mask meech the gang street dealer for over 10 years they've been controlling the drug trade with an iron fist anyone who gets in their way usually gets shot oh this crap crack okay all gathered it's about a little under half a key people die for this you wouldn't walk around with this on the street main source of income crack another word for cocaine mixed with baking powder and water and then boiled up every month money sells a kilogram street value forty thousand dollars i would give this to a couple more guys in the street the drug game here is extremely dangerous you got to worry about the jackers the stick of kids the police i mean just the people who just don't want to see you shine well it's this it comes from all angles your best friend will kill you in this game his man for the dirty work right hand man moe all right shoot us over the king so i don't go out i hey i have my business and i'm back out the way for the most part but they say keep keep you abstract and that's the best way to protect yourself a bloody territorial war keeps the gang in turmoil to keep their rivals in check boss money needs a steady flow of new weapons meanwhile right hand man moe heads over to the gang's dealer a ration of crack in his pocket even though crack saw its destructive heyday in the 80s there are still plenty of users here and it remains the most lucrative street drug in detroit poverty and a lack of prospects drive one in six people into drug addiction besides crack heroin and cocaine the market is flooded with opioids and only the strongest of painkillers can kill the pain that the seven mile road deals drugs and turf wars are part of daily life on seven mile bloods member mo has to be very cautious about which route he takes when running an errand one wrong turn and it could mean his life now you see right here this this the cut cut-off line for the territory you got that side this side you know what i mean this is where it is when somebody from the rival side comes then yeah there's automatic problems they either didn't get you know a fight to break out shooting a breakout stabbing anything but his most definite definite problems coming across the territorial line which is why the gang wants to stock up on weapons defending their turf has top priority outsiders often don't know for sure which area they're going through it's gotten too risky for the gangs to make markings like graffiti [Music] as far as the graffiti nobody we the gangs and everything we don't really do graffiti around here no more the graffiti part about it is old you can tell like i said obviously what color they got on if they have a certain color you catch them giving handshakes you know with their homeboys identify what crew they're in and a lot of the dumb ones they get online and they name their gang and they put their name after their gang online and that be their handle for their social media and [ __ ] like that so it's easier for the police to recognize you authorities estimate that about 100 different gangs control the streets of detroit countless videos of shootouts and people posing with weapons are posted on the internet there the gangs brag about what they've done and that's exactly what brought down four members of the seven mile bloods after they posted their hit lists on social media the police were able to track them down and lock them up [Music] for gang member mo it's a warning to behave as inconspicuously as possible his motto if they don't know your face they don't look for your face in the neighborhood there's not too many police because they fear for their safety too people shoot at the police and whatnot now you got like the new generation they're all drugged out to the to the fullest so they they're like zombies so the killing is just reckless it's a bad deal around here it's bad it's bad so yeah killing robbing homicides like a 24 7 365 deal for the police every assignment is a risk which is why bounty hunters are often used to go after criminals a special unit of bounty hunters prepares for their next assignment on the outskirts of downtown the team is made up of four men former elite special forces police officers and mercenaries i think this guy's about 26. tommy depot leads the unit so far he's arrested over 2500 criminals you got your baton you got your spray i do both vests yeah yeah all right let's uh gear guns yeah better go arm many ordinary citizens won't leave their homes anymore without a weapon over 114 000 people have concealed carry permits in the detroit metropolitan region but the actual numbers are much higher there's been a lot of drug related gang-related shootings and uh so detroit pd has been doing their best to be proactive with their gang units but you can't get ahead of it fast enough for 20 years now tommy and his partner popeye have been hunting down criminals at the top of their list gang members today they're after a big fish so it's one of those cases where you get a tip every once in a while it's a guy out on a bond for a pretty serious offense it was a large amount of cocaine and uh weapons charge it's pretty much total gang culture there's some locals but crips and bloods don't forget still kind of rule the lay of the land everywhere how was your bond on that one fifty thousand wow fifty thousand dollars prize money the first clues lead the hunters straight into the no-go zone and who knows which criminals the bounty hunters might encounter seven mile that's kind of like the hot targeted red zone right now and there's been a lot of execution styles lately in the head two times so it's uh they're not playing it's when somebody says that they're gonna come and kill somebody we used to laugh about it 10 12 years ago now they are coming to kill somebody you take it serious and unfortunately a lot of the back to the right yes right uh people with the guns the shooters are juveniles the bounty hunters drive to the criminal's last known address standard procedure they're counting on tips about his current hangout if arrested fugitive could face eight to ten years in prison [Music] the hunters are also on the lookout for smaller fish in this pond in his 50 years as a bounty hunter popeye the veteran of the troop has been attacked several times i think the worst one i had was out in arizona when he was out there when i got shot in the back uh i was down for about two years and of course i've been stabbed and almost lost all my fingers they had to reattach everything then i got hit with a bar stool in the bar trying to arrest a guy i mean it's pretty dangerous but i like it i really do as they thought no new tips but the hunters have to exhaust all their options let's keep moving they hope to get more information from the sister of the wanted drug and weapons dealer so they sit off in her direction despite the risk [Music] because about 32 of all those living along seven mile live below the poverty line for many of them the way to get easy money is by engaging in any manner of illegal activities like for right hand man mo he delivers the weekly ration of drugs to the dealer of the gang [Music] hello i'm about to pull uh right now meet me up here the dealer sells mainly to regular customers his route takes him through the territory of a rival gang if he steps over the line he'll face some hard consequences this neighborhood notorious for setting the house on fire that's like i don't hustle around here now the first time second time they come in to shoot you and kill you keep your dog the jobs that was here that ain't here everything's [ __ ] up now the culture is [ __ ] up the dope game used to be our but it didn't change those three familiar bedfellows unemployment crime and decay in many places detroit resembles a ghost town once home to the u.s automobile industry major companies like ford chrysler and general motors since the economic and financial crisis a lot of these factories have been empty the result huge layoffs entire sectors of the economy moved out and tax revenues have fallen to all-time lows all that's left of the american dream is a living nightmare extreme poverty prevails on seven mile countless families can't make it without food donations steady jobs are rare although some big companies have returned the good old days are over [Music] dealer meech has found his way to earn money here sell drugs his first customer is already waiting i keep the big three that's heroin that's coke that's crack and i just provide that service we don't think this this lifestyle we live in is illegal we don't you know this is natural to me the transfer point a gas station on the west end of seven mile at the gas the gas stations are among the most dangerous spots along seven miles armed robberies blackmail and random shootings between gangs innocent people often get caught between the fronts anyone could be a victim especially at night for the people who live along seven mile it's all just part of their unforgiving daily life also for michael an ex-gang member he's lived in the no-go zone since he was born gang wars flare up every week countless people have already lost family members or friends in these struggles [Music] for the station attendance all customers are suspicious at first in the no go zone they prefer to be protected by bulletproof glass michael could also be a criminal or a gang member it's very necessary you know anything can happen someone could come in here you know try to reach over there or someone come in here armed try to rob the store which they ain't worried about that but uh you know it's just basically safety purposes a lot of hot spots along seven mile have their own special names [Music] like michael's he lives in the so-called red zone [Applause] the area is located in the northeast corner with a zip code 48205 right between seven and eight mile the red zone is so dangerous that some of the people who live there call it the war zone because the seven mile bloods have also got their deadly finger in the pie the main problem on this area is gangs you know everybody want to be a gang banker you know so that creates a lot of violence you know everybody wants to be of blood with no hope for the future in detroit young people are driven under the streets and directly into the hands of the waiting gangs michael was also unable to escape the earlier the temptation for quick cash got the better of him it was the birth of his youngest son that woke him up from the time i was 16 to the time i was 18 i was you know running the streets selling drugs you know and um by the time i was 18 and that changed you know i got locked up one time wanting to stay free stay alive because anything you go out here thinking you gonna hustle and a person kill you over [ __ ] 20 bucks you know just because they don't care about nothing michael spent more than one year in prison since then he earns a lot less money working shifts than he did as a drug dealer he wants to show his children that there's another way besides gangs and violence [Music] the kids uh it's very important you know uh you want the kids to grow up to do the right thing you know get your education because that's the most important thing in this world is education without that you don't have any knowledge you don't know nothing then you're pretty much screwed a good education is expensive eleven thousand dollars for one year at a private school and government alternatives not many of those around anymore for a long time now detroit has been one of the largest deprived metropolitan areas in the united states in the last 15 years about two-thirds of all public schools have been closed the reason the collapse of the economy has had a major impact on the size of the population once the richest city in the country it is now among the poorest as a result around 60 percent of all residents are believed to be illiterate just a few street corners away and a temporary shelter belonging to the seven mile bloods the gang's plans for the future are taking shape gang leader money has just done some business with a gun dealer the gang will finally get some new weapons after the cash is exchanged the gun transfer takes place anonymously in one of the city's many stash houses every that spot gotta have some difference you don't keep everything in the same spot i keep a stash spot for the money keep the status spot for the different drugs you never keep the drugs and the money in the same spot and i'll never keep all my drugs in the same spot such a special assignment boss money only lets one man in the gang do the work his right-hand man moe almost a third of all houses in the city are empty because only about 670 000 people still live in detroit in its heyday there were over 2 million for gangs and criminals the abandoned houses are the perfect stash for drugs and guns or to hide a body and while the wealthier residents of detroit have fled to the suburbs outside the city the so-called white flight means that of those remaining in the decaying inner city almost 80 percent are african-americans including mo the right-hand man of the seven mile blood leader who grew up here he earned his status over the course of many ruthless years there's definitely some ranks in the game you know you got the low level it's like pawns on the chessboard you know what i'm saying they're just expendable guys they just surround you know like your army front men you got your regular generals you level two generals then your highest you got your gang chief and i pretty much call all the shots i'm well connected i'm respected with everybody so i can move freely i want to you know so i don't really have no certain time my own entity you know what i mean i have my own situation going on so people respect me and they know me you know mo is getting ready for his next mission picking up the gun delivery and he never leaves his house without one of his own it's definitely best to protect yourself when you come do this it's just common sense you know like i said i'm bringing a knife to a gunfight so shootouts would call these officers shootouts with other gang members shoot out with other crews yeah it's just it's a lot you know [Applause] only with the requisite firepower can they continue to dominate their territory and the other gangs because the touch paper might light at any moment meanwhile the bounty hunters have almost reached their destination their search leads them to the border area of the seven mile bloods where the sister of the wanted drug and weapons dealer allegedly lives but here lower ranking gang members might cross their path once at the house they look for clues to lead them to their target getting out of the car is not an option at the moment the danger is too great that the bounty hunters will be noticed by neighbors here the team can never know who's a friend and who's an enemy for the most part nobody wants to get involved because of the backlash and uh social media and the wildfire that how they can you know go like that if they are found out to have assisted it could be uh very serious consequences for them so they're more at probably not to say anything the house appears to be empty it's getting too risky for the bounty hunters here they abort the mission and disappear from the scene [Music] during a short break the neighbor from before reappears he's one of the good guys and wants to help the team man there was two doors down to your right with the way you were standing in there no but it's just rhonda and her uh her brother live there now well that covers that up good that keeps us from sitting out there bugging worrying the neighborhood sitting there wasting time burning daylight a setback the wanted man is not at his sister's that's my house shoot me if you would text yourself just we got anything hot back this way we'd get some ears and eyes on it before of course if you see him shoot me a text i'll take a picture and shoot that to you the bounty hunters have informants all over the city for a hot tip with a successful outcome they'll pay up to a thousand dollars right now they're waiting for some feedback from their most important contact only a few street corners away drug dealer meech is making his deal at a gas station on seven mile [Applause] happy happy happy uh two rocks for twenty dollars one after the other dealer meech makes the deliveries to his regular customers so far he's collected about two hundred and fifty dollars he considers the danger that one of the junkies will blow his cover to be low oh really do the shady spots and stuff like that we're gonna pull up real quick i know the general area that i'm pulling up i pretty much everything's familiar so you know you see the sound faces you don't see some faces you see and they'll look right down here certain people stick out in this neighborhood i can smell that type of [ __ ] i'll be there in a minute he's careful he only gives his number to loyal friends and helpers of the gang meanwhile the bounty hunters are back out they're still waiting for a tip from their informants for gang member mo it's time to get going his mission to pick up the gang's long-awaited weapon shipment everyone's waiting for darkness to fall in one of the most dangerous cities in the usa as night descends the entire length of seven mile is transformed into a deadly no-go zone the risk of being murdered in detroit is 11 times higher than new york city an endless gang war holds the city in its clutches once police show up a showdown is usually already over the residents have but one chance to survive the night don't leave the house after dark michael also stays within his own four walls [Music] [Music] you see it on the news every day yeah i don't think there's a day that go by that i turn on the news and uh it doesn't say anything about someone anderson getting hurt or just you know someone getting shot period you know uh we just had a holiday in that one day we had over 20 shooters shootings and crime nothing new to him michael's house is positioned directly in the death zone i definitely want to move out of detroit out of the red zone it's just gonna take me uh working my ass off to do it his dream a new home for his children so the same fate does not befall them like many others here joining a gang or selling their body

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 9,857,630

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), dangeorus places, worlds most dangerous places, usa, dangerous south usa, usa gangs, no-go-zones, no go zone, no go zones usa, toughest places, worlds toughest places, Seven Mile Road, detroit

Id: VR7r9bBRVi0

Length: 29min 30sec (1770 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 06 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/kingcurtisnugs]

Lol is this is a joke? 7 mile road is also home to the Detroit Golf Club where they will be playing the Rocket Mortgage Classic event. Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, and Jason Day will be there. Also, the state fair grounds are less than a mile away (north) where families would go every year. Additionally, Palmer Park is on 7 mile (hiking, biking trails, tennis courts, Lake Frances, Detroit Exploration and Nature center, historical fountain, and an 18 hole municipal golf course). Sure there are parts of Detroit that aren’t great, but let’s not forget all the good. Say Nice Things About Detroit.

[u/TriggerHappy_NZ]

The narrator sounds like Zapp Brannigan.

[u/brusselsprout29]

With all the money they make selling drugs, they need to change the batteries in the smoke detector in the house they are in. My dog went nuts having to hear it as I watched.