this is a special edition of show show gang land. >> reporter: tonight our journey deep inside the murder capital in the world, a place where there's a homicide nearly every hour. even grieving families aren't safe. we're right there for gun fire at a wake. and we take you inside this over crowded jail brimming with allegedly violent gangsters. now the gangs of el salvador are operating in nearly every state in the nation. this teenager hoping for a new life here in the u.s. and what he learned just hours ago. >> announcer: this special edition of "nightline."

>> announcer: this is a special edition of "nightline" gangland. >> reporter: good evening and tonight we take you inside one of the most dangerous countries on earth, a place where criminal gang s control entire neighborhoods. families on both sides of the border caught in toxic violence.

it's a special edition of "nightline" gangland. it's the middle of the night in the murder capital of the world. >> something's going on in the area. >> reporter: we're in el salvador on patrol with armed to the teeth cops. >> this is a very dangerous place. >> reporter: they take us to this run down police station where they're holding allegedly vicious combatants in this country's all out gang war. >> how many people are they holding here? 169 people in here? not sure if you can get a sense

of how small this is. but it's tiny. they're just housed on top of each other. what does it say on your forehead? 6-6-6, he says. diablo. they're only supposed to be in here for 72 hours. how long have you been in? one year? >> reporter: this places a clear sign that this impauv rshed nation may just be overwhelmed by young people who feel they have no choice but to join a gang. how strong is the bond with your other gang members? ♪ this is the war next door. in tiny el salvador, just over 1500 miles south of the u.s. border, there's nearly one

homicide an hour. >> shootings and stabbings, ms 13 has left a trail in greater boston. >> reporter: and now these gangs are exporting death directly into america. >> tearerizing the city. >> reporter: active in 46 states. >> kill, rape, control. >> reporter: here in the el salvadoren capital, the two main gangs have carved up the city into warring factions. >> it's a very hard area. >> reporter: this is our translator, who like cops doesn't want gang members seeing his face and targeting his family. every night this team from the local morgue heads out to collect the bodies. it's only 9:00 and the body count is already at seven. seemingly everybody is at risk

here. we find a 23-year-old named carlos shot inside his own home after ordering a pizza. this is his mother. >> he was her baby. >> reporter: she insists her son wasn't even in a gang. >> it keeps going all night, every night, 24/7. >> reporter: we're heading into a neighborhood controlled by barrio 18. we're going to talk to the gang leader in this neighborhood. we had to get advanced

permission before we entered, because if you don't get permission, you in serious danger. ♪ >> reporter: we're here to meet the local gang leader who goes by the name of favo, which is spanish for nail. you control this area? does that mean you have to resort to violence sometimes? >> if you need to go hard, you go hard. >> reporter: if you walk under to an ms area -- >> they kill you. and they maybe will kill us too. >> reporter: so, that's how fierce the loyalty is, you will kill somebody from a rival gang? as a boy, he moved to virginia where he joined a gang. then he got deported back to el salvador where his gang career continues. now he wants to sneak back into america in part to escape gang life because he says he's tired of taking orders from the

leaders, most of whom are in prison. so, even though they're locked up, they can make a phone call and have somebody killed? >> yes. >> reporter: and who would they have killed? >> maybe ms, we don't know. >> reporter: and you just do it? >> yes. >> reporter: that's crazy. >> that's crazy. >> reporter: and if you don't, you feel they will kill you? >> maybe. >> the weapons mostly used by gang members are pick axes, machetes and guns. >> reporter: we're at the city morgue with monessau kylie who's from canada originally, now part of a team of archeologists who help identify victims often dismemm dismembered in unmarked graves. >> you do get desensatized

especially in el salvador, there's death all around us. we're used to this. >> reporter: this is a brisk, efficient processing center for human misery. one technician tells us they see an infinity of death. every day families come to the morgue to search for the missing and to identify and collect the dead. we meet ara, her 17-year-old son, alexis, was killed last night. just two months ago, one of her other sons was murdered by the gangs at which point she applied for asylum in america for her family. she's still waiting for a response. ♪

>> reporter: coming up, she invites us to her son's wake where we are completely unprepared for what happens next. and we will meet a teenager who escaped the gangs by fleeing to america, where he is now fighting to stay. if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, and you're talking to your doctor about your medication... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. this is humira helping me go further. humira works for many adults. it targets and helps to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. doctors have been prescribing

humira for over 13 years. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. ready for a new chapter? talk to your rheumatologist. this is humira at work. (vo)never be good.can purina believes it can. inspecting every ingredient for quality? that's big. being confident that your pet's food is 100% safe? that's big, too. spending more healthy years with your best friend? that's amazing. big is exciting... daring... for everyone.

pets don't just make life better - they make it bigger. purina. live big. introduces new, easy-to-swallow tablets. so now, there are more ways, for more people... to experience... complete protection from frequent heartburn. nexium 24hr. the easy-to-swallow tablet is here. unless you have allergies. flonase is the first and only nasal spray approved to relieve both itchy, watery eyes and congestion. no other nasal allergy spray can say that. go ahead, embrace those beautiful moments. flonase changes everything.

from bank of america to buy a new gym bag. before earning 1% cash back everywhere, every time and 2% back at the grocery store. even before he got 3% back on gas. kenny used his bankamericard cash rewards credit card to join the wednesday night league. because he loves to play hoops. not jump through them.

that's the excitement of rewarding connections. apply online or at a bank of america near you. wannwith sodastreamter? you turn plain water into sparkling water in seconds. and because it's so delicious, you'll drink 43% more water every day. sodastream. love your water.

♪ >> reporter: this grieving mother is holding a wake for her 17-year-old son, alexis. murdered by gangs just last night. and right in the middle of the service -- [ gun shots] [ screaming] ♪

>> reporter: right there, clinging to loved ones, the likely target, her only remaining son. the preachers resume, an act of defiance. >> a car stopped by here and just started shooting. >> reporter: you sound nervous. >> i am. what are we doing? >> going to go check with

police. >> they won't touch the guys. the guy's already gone. this is day by day what people do here. happens every day. >> reporter: and for this mother and her only remaining son, the danger is not over. they have to get through the burial in the morning. the next day we learn that the best hope for are avoiding violence at the funeral may come from a man accused of having close ties to the gang, the mayor. he denies these allegations but with our cameras rolling. he actually call as gang leader and asks the gang to stand down. [ speaking foreign language]

♪ ♪ >> reporter: the unbroken cycle of madness in el salvador has provoked a massive flood of illegal immigrants cross nothing to america, inhadcluding 10s of thousands of unaccompanied

minors but once here they find themselves targeted by the very same gangs. we're with undercover cops in los angeles. this is where the gangs actually started before spreading throughout the country and the continent. >> right in the middle of this neighborhood is a mural with a machine gun celebrating a gang. ms 13 and barrio 13 allegedly engaging in drug dealing and prostitution and then sending the proceeds back to their leaders in el salvador. >> so, all of these businesses are, odds are they're all paying p protection money to the gang. >> reporter: when did you get into trouble with the gangs? when did they first start threatening you? >> when i was six and five years, i think. >> reporter: this is the young

man who made the parls journey to america alone at age 13. and then they hunted down his mother, sister and little brother. >> they tried to kill my family my mother and my little brother and my sister. >> reporter: it's very sad. >> yeah. i miss them. >> reporter: his very survival may hinge on getting asylum here in america. >> his very life is at stake with these legal proceedings. >> reporter: so, the stakes couldn't be higher? >> no, i don't think that they could. >> reporter: if you don't get asylum and you have to go back, what do you think will happen? >> they're going to kill me. me and my family. >> reporter: we went looking for

francisco's family in el salvador and found them living in fear. we can't go to where she lives because she moves around constantly. she basically lives in hiding from the gangs. so, we're picking up from a mcdonald's and taking her to a safe location to do the interview. francisco's mother and siblings tell us how gang members burst into their apartment one night firing shots. that's a gun shot wound? wow. >> reporter: so, you put your leg up to protect her head from the gun? did you tell the cops? >> no. >> reporter: why not? >> reporter: are you still

scared? you miss your brother? no kid should have to live like this. the el salvadoren government is now escalating the fight, declaring them terrorist organizations but some say the police are going way too far. they've been accused of forming death squads and the gangs are sending the murder rate to record levels. are you losing the fight against the gangs? >> no. i don't think so. >> reporter: we asked one of the country's top cops about the government's current crack down. even after this very difficult year, so many people so scared and dead, you still believe this is the right strategy? >> yeah, i think we're in the right way, yeah. >> reporter: on one of our final days in el salvador, a top gang leader agrees to speak to us. he says the government doesn't

have control. he and the gangs do. >> reporter: is this just going to get worse? what's the solution? he says the government is daring us into war. and as a show of force right on camera, he announces a ceasefire between ms 13 and barrio 18. the next night, we go back to the morgue and crickets. this is really a stunning illustration of the power of the gangs. the morgue is at a stand still. no bodies. within days, however, the violence resumes with so many lives hanging in the balance. coming up, judgment day for francisco. >>i iu'm a little bit nervous. >> reporter: and his struggle to stay in america. if your family outing is magical

for all the wrong reasons. you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin®. because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. try zyrtec®. muddle no more®. create your own seafood trios you can try something new with every bite. pick 3 of 9 all-new creations for $15.99. like baked lobster alfredo chimichurri shrimp and crab cakes bursting with crab meat. just hurry in before it ends. i struggle with bipolar depression, and it's hard. i miss out on life's little moments. ♪ so i talked to my doctor and he prescribed latuda. there are many forms of depression. latuda is fda approved to treat bipolar depression, which is different from other types of depression. in clinical studies, once-a-day latuda was proven effective for many people struggling with bipolar depression. latuda is not for everyone. call your doctor about unusual mood changes,

behaviors, or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. elderly dementia patients on latuda have an increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor about fever, stiff muscles and confusion, as these may be signs of a life-threatening reaction, or if you have uncontrollable muscle movements, as these may be permanent. high blood sugar has been seen with latuda and medicines like it, and in extreme cases can lead to coma or death. other risks include decreased white blood cells, which can be fatal, dizziness on standing, seizures, increased cholesterol, weight or prolactin, trouble swallowing and impaired judgment. avoid grapefruit and grapefruit juice. use caution before driving or operating machinery. i spend time with my family just doing everyday things, really. but you know what? they feel pretty special to me. ask your doctor if once-daily latuda is right for you. pay as little as a $15 copay. visit latuda.com

when i have an asthma attack... i feel like a fish with no water. learn how to prevent your child's next asthma attack. because even one attack is one too many.

♪ and finally tonight, a huge development for francisco, the

young man who came to america fleeing the gangs in el salvador. he learned that his asylum application was approved. >> i want to cry. everything. everything good for my future. >> reporter: and francisco's mom told us when she heard the news, she was so happy she could hardly breathe. thank you for watching a special edition of "nightline" and good night.

(music plays from one way or another )♪♪ ♪ i'm gonna find y♪ i'm gonna getcha ♪ ♪ getcha getcha getcha ♪ one way or another ♪ ♪ i'm gonna win ya ♪ i'm gonna getcha ♪ ♪ getcha getcha getcha ♪ one way or another ♪ ♪ i'm gonna see ya ♪ (inhales cigarette)