Haiti is a broken state. Since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, street gangs armed with military grade weapons from the US have filled the power vacuum, taking control of 90 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and swathes of the countryside. Killing and kidnapping-for-ransom are at an all-time high, and tens of thousands are fleeing to escape violence the United Nations says is on par with countries at war.

Haitian officials have called for another foreign intervention to break the gangs' stranglehold. In the meantime, vigilante groups have formed to defend their neighborhoods. As the pressure builds, CGTN America gains rare access to the two most powerful gang factions battling for supremacy, and tracks the plight of civilians trapped in the crossfire.