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>> i've lived a crazy life from breaking into houses to supply my family crack to being the highest ranking member of the royals. >> lack of opportunity and drugs, there are no easy fixes for mississippi's gang problem. >> i've always referred to myself as a product of my environment. >> so many of the simon city royals i've met here joined the gang when they were still teenagers. >> i finally learned you don't have to be a product of your environment. you can choose to be better. >> the start of a solution, could begin in this room. >> try not to come back here. just keep your head up, man. i...

Magnolia state is short on opportunity. and now mississippi has a gang problem. since 2010, law enforcement has been cracking down, making thousands of arrests and seizing large quantities of illegal guns, opioids, marijuana, and the overwhelming drug of choice here, meth. but the simon city royals are still the fastest growing gang in the state, recruiting most of their members behind bars. we are at the hancock county jail, and we're told by jail officials that about 40% of the inmates here are gang members and that many of them are simon city royal members. so we're going to try and see if ...

Custody is a way for benny to make a difference in their lives. >> i've lived a crazy life. from breaking into houses to supply my family crack to being highest rankin in mississippi. >> in the face of poverty, lack of opportunity and drugs, there are no easy fixes for mississippi's gang problem. >> i've always referred to myself as a product of my environment. >> so many of the simon city royals i've met here joined the gang when they were still teenagers. >> but i finally learned you don't have to be a product of your environment. you can choose to do better. >> the start of a solution could...

He'll say something that won't be acceptable based on their bylaws, and then someone higher ranking than him will order a violation, and he'll get beaten up for saying the wrong thing. >> so he says he's no longer affiliated. do you believe that? >> he's here on this strip where, as you've seen, it's drugs, prostitution, guns, and he's here at 2:00 in the morning with their gang colors. but honestly, i don't know. ♪ >> this is mississippi, with its cotton farms and country churches. deep in the heart of the bible belt. with an unemployment rate well above the national average and the lowest ...

With the gang colors. but i don't know. >> this is mississippi. with its cotton farms and country churches. deep in the heart of the bible belt. with an unemployment rate well above the national average and the lowest household income in the country. so called magnolia state is short on opportunity. and now, mississippi has a gang problem. since 2010, law enforcement has been cracking down. making thousands of arrests and seizing large quantities of the illegal guns, opioid and marijuana. and the overwhelming drug of choice here. meth.