Return to Transcripts main page

The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper

Gifford Fire In SoCal burns Over 100K Acres; CNN's David Culver Reports From Latin America in "Ecuador: The Narco Superhighway" for The Whole Story With Anderson Cooper. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired August 10, 2025 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[21:00:00]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: A 100 degree heat wave actually in California. And bone dry conditions have fueled California's largest wildfire of the year. The Gifford Fire has now burned an area bigger than the size of Atlanta by torching more than 100,000 acres. It's now what's considered a megafire. That fire is still only 32 percent contained, with flames threatening Santa Barbara and nearby communities.

Meanwhile, the smaller Canyon fire that's been threatening areas around Los Angeles is now more than 62 percent contained and evacuation orders have been lifted.

Thanks so much for joining me this evening. I'm Jessica Dean. I'm going to see you right back here next weekend. Have a great night.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Whole Story. I'm Anderson Cooper. Ecuador is one of the most environmentally diverse countries in South America, home to rainforests, the Andes Mountains and the Galapagos Islands. It was once considered one of the safest, most peaceful countries in the region with the lowest homicide rate. But that is quickly changing.

A rise in drug trafficking has led to a rise in power for the cartels in the region. Around 70 percent of the world's cocaine moves through Ecuador now, and that has plunged the country into a state of chaos and violence.

So far this year, more than 4,800 people have been killed there. It's on track to become the deadliest year on record.

Over the next hour, CNN's David Culver takes us inside Ecuador where he'll show you firsthand what the government forces are doing to try to contain the violence and speaks with Ecuadorians, including current gang members, about why so many civilians are getting caught up in this war, either by force or sometimes by choice. We want to warn you, some of what you'll see in this hour may be disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sam, you just ask the gentleman to count to 10 for me.

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On nearly every street, in almost every home, the violence reaches in, Ecuador was once Latin America's island of peace. Not anymore.

CULVER: It's already been a month since the last time they saw their son. Alejandro said the last time they saw him he was leaving his house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Only God knows what happened to him. We just ask to be told, wehre he is, how he's doing, whatever God' wants for his life.

CULVER (voice-over): Their son, like so many across Ecuador, was being pressured to join a gang. He refused and then disappeared.

CULVER: Are you speaking with the police?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not very much. The police aren't looking for him. They don't call us.

CULVER (voice-over): And so they lean on their faith to bring their son home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A hear with Christ and humility. he does not reject it. And if you trust in God, he will do it.

CULVER (voice-over): Trusting he'll come back home. Their story, their pain is echoed across this country. Ecuador is not a cocaine producer, and yet the blood spills here. Cocaine is flooding into these streets and with it an explosion of brutality. You might think you know this story, gangs, drugs, corruption.

But what we find here may surprise you because this isn't just about cocaine. It's about a system, one that pulls in the poor, empowers the brutal and protects the powerful.

CULVER: Oh, my God. There's blood on the ground. Careful with your step here.

CULVER (voice-over): To understand Ecuador's unraveling, we follow the chain to see who moves, who profits and who pays.

We start on the chase.

CULVER: They've just kicked it in. They just kicked the throttle up here. They've got eyes on. Oh, I think it's these two boats, actually.

[21:05:02]

CULVER (voice-over): Ecuador's coastline stretches for almost 1,400 miles along the Pacific, just offshore from Manta. We're pulled into action faster than we expected.

CULVER: We were meeting with one of the commanders here, asking a little bit about this potential embed, when suddenly they got information that there were two boats leaving from a nearby port. On those boats, they believed gasoline and drug.

CULVER (voice-over): They call this the narco superhighway. And you can think of Manta as the on ramp.

From here, shipments flow out to the U.S. and Europe. The cocaine itself doesn't originate in Ecuador, though. It pours in from Colombia in the north and Peru in the south. Those are the world's top cocaine producers. Ecuador has become the transit hub, a trafficker's gateway to the world.

The navy pulls over this boat. No drugs on board, but dozens of fuel containers. Officials say this amount of gas is most often used to fuel long distance drug runs. These are the runners. They make up the base level of a global empire. Not gang members, just fishermen pressured by circumstance, pulled in by money, and often seen by gangs as expendable. For the fishermen, it's worth the risk.

They tell us each fuel canister cost them about $40, and they sell them at sea for up to 10 times as much. But drug runs, that is a different league. Higher stakes, bigger payoffs. This fisherman turned drug smuggler says the temptation is far too great.

CULVER: He says here it'll cost them about half a million dollars. But when they get to their final destination in Loretos, $5 million that they can get in one boat.

CULVER (voice-over): That's a 900 percent markup. $500,000 in, $5 million out. Now he's not pocketing millions. Those dollars move to those higher up the chain, still making tens of thousands in a month. The ocean never paid like that.

He agrees to show us how it all works, as long as we don't show his face or use his real voice. It's not the police he fears so much as the gangs who hire him. He says they're always watching.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We put a box in the hull of the boat to hide the drugs.

CULVER: They put a compartment right here. They put all along the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To avoid getting detected. Everything is in black. The bags of drugs, what wear, everything is dark so they can't see us. As a fisherman, I could make $300 a month. But doing an illegal run up to just off the coast of Mexico, I can make 30 to 60 thousand dollars a month. It's good money.

CULVER (voice-over): Even while breaking the law. He trusts God will keep him safe. And, like so many before him, promises the next run will be his last.

UNDIENTIFIED MALE: I just need one more trip and then I'll stop.

CULVER (voice-over): But often their trips end at sea. No goodbyes, no explanations. Just gone.

It's a painful void for those left behind. Solanda Bermeo says her son was also a drug runner, lured by the promise of fast money. Now he's imprisoned. She's back to fishing, trying to hold their family together. And she is not alone in this grief. At Solanda's home, they gather quietly. Wives, mothers, daughters,

sisters, each carrying a story of someone who left and never came back. Most are too afraid to show their faces, but they're desperate to be heard. Their loved ones were fishermen recruited to smuggle drugs across the sea. Some disappeared. Others sit in foreign prisons.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unfortunately, they do it because of the economic situation in our country. We don't have money, we don't have work, we don't have a way to support ourselves, our women have to move forward to be both mother and father for our children.

CULVER (voice-over): Since January of 2024, Solanda's group has documented more than 2,800 fishermen missing, dead or detained abroad.

UNIDENIFIED FEMALE: I don't want to remember it anymore. I've been so devoted to my children. Ever if they've grown up, they are my spoiled children. It hurts me as a mother, and I think all mothers feel the same, or the wives who love their husbands, they feel the same.

CULVER: The women around her wrote letters to men they may never see again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My children, my love, life is hard. I am not going to abandon you. I will wait here for you. Don't worry about us.

[21:10:08]

CULVER (voice-over): These women carry their pain quietly. And in many cases they know their sons and husbands aren't coming home.

Ecuador's navy chases the runners still out there, patrolling far beyond the coast, deep into the Pacific. Into these waters once known for wonder, not war. The Galapagos Islands.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CULVER (voice-over): Some 600 miles off Ecuador's mainland, you arrive in another world. The Galapagos Islands feel like an escape from everything. Born of fire, these volcanic islands rise out of the Pacific, surfacing to host precious life. Some of the world's rarest creatures.

The beauty is overwhelming at times. Above and beneath the waves. Tourists come here chasing wonder. And once ashore, they quickly learn nature has the right of way. So step aside.

Charles Darwin described the Galapagos as eminently curious. And it is curiosity that's brought us here too. Just off the coast of this Pacific paradise, there is something sinister crossing the currents. International smuggling routes like these are being used to transport drugs all the way to the United States exploiting the vastness of the Pacific.

Ecuador's navy is chasing a moving target. We're with them on a scheduled training run and the skills being taught here are the same ones they'll need on real missions. Hunting down traffickers and cutting off their mid ocean refueling points. Back on the main vessel, the captain tells me runners often take the long way south around the Galapagos. It helps them avoid patrols but also burns more fuel.

CULVER (voice-over): He said along the way, they'll be stationed different fishing boats that are mastiffs, fishing boats, but really are holding canisters of fuel and a lot of fuel. And they allow for essentially refueling stops for these drug runners to then continue all the way around the Galapagos, continue up towards Central America and ultimately to the US.

[21:15:05]

CULVER: It's a cat and mouse game across the Pacific. With limited resources in the air and on the ground, they rely on coordination and intel to try and stay ahead.

CULVER: They'll be able to triangulate where exactly the drug runner is and where they're going and where they can have that point of interdiction.

How many times does this really happen?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're talking about two to three times a month when we are able to make seizures.

CULVER (voice-over): In 2024, Ecuadorian authorities seized more than 259 tons of cocaine, a record high and a more than 30 percent jump over the year before. That's enough for a gram of cocaine for every adult in the U.S. and then some. And that's just what was caught. Most of it still gets through.

So if Ecuador is struggling to stop the drugs from leaving, why not keep them from getting in?

To answer that, we head to Esmeraldas, a region that shows just how uphill this battle really is. You don't have to look far to see why. The terrain is vast rivers, dirt paths, back roads, all offering traffickers plenty of ways in and out.

Here on a key highway linking Ecuador to Colombia, heavily armed police pull over nearly everyone. Commercial trucks, private cars, intercity buses. Some folks frustrated as officers search every bag, every compartment. Then they find something.

CULVER: There's a lot of back and forth going on between the bus driver and one of the passengers. The bus driver pointing out that this passenger brought this box on board. The passenger denying it, saying it's not his, he only brought the small backpack. The bus driver adamant, no, I saw you put this in when I picked you up.

CULVER (voice-over): Inside some clothes, but also packages. No real effort to hide what's underneath.

CULVER: Cocaine. He's saying it's very likely that's cocaine.

CULVER (voice-over): It's a win for police. Another bust, another video, part of a growing PR push to show progress. But in truth, it's a drop in the ocean of cocaine moving through Ecuador. And each load that gets through raises the risk on the ground.

It's led to shifting gang boundaries and constant turf wars. Even in tranquil fishing villages.

CULVER: It feels a bit out of place at times wearing body armor, especially on a peaceful, calm morning like this. But then you're reminded, not only by police, by the military, but even by these fishermen, that this is a country at war. And they say battles can pop up at any time.

CULVER (voice-over): In 2023, right where were standing, police say gang members opened fire, killing nine fishermen, injuring dozens more, all because they refused to pay extortion.

The sun sets, and for a moment, life here feels normal. It's Saturday night. Families are out enjoying themselves. Salsa music spills into the streets. Good food, cold drinks even. Our team takes a break.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello.

CULVER (voice-over): But as if part of the evening's entertainment lineup, a convoy rolls down the main promenade. Military troops in full gear. No panic, no rush. Folks are seemingly used to it. We spot the new governor posing for selfies with locals. Notice he's wearing body armor.

Two years ago, a politician was gunned down in this province.

JUAN JARAMILLIO PAREDES, GOVERNOR OF ESMERALDAS PROVICE: Drug trafficking is very concerning. It generates violence, arms trafficking, fuel trafficking and we are working to counteract it. It's a team effort.

CULVER (voice-over): But many here say it's not enough that Ecuador can't face this alone. We're reminded of that the next day, as traffic comes to a halt. It's grief spilling into the streets. They tell us over and over here, Ecuador was never like this before.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:24:26]

CULVER (voice-over): It's 5:00 a.m. fishermen are bringing in their catch. Buyers are already out looking for the best deal. Most of this comes from deep in the Pacific. Some of it's legal, some of it's not. This one, a shark. Fishermen say it's headed for Chinese markets.

[21:25:05]

And according to officials, even shark fins have been used to hide cocaine. Police are here, but seem to be focused elsewhere.

CULVER: Folks here will tell you this is how they're supposed to be making a living off the sea. They say they ultimately end up only making a few hundred dollars a month doing this. That's why so many end up turning to drug.

Even in a space like this that feels so normal, so ordinary, so innocent, the cartels, the gangs, the criminal elements have their grip. They know we're here. They're watching us. More importantly, they're watching all these folks.

CULVER (voice-over): For traffickers, places like this are ideal. Hundreds of fishing ports lie in Ecuador's coast, moving legitimate catch and illegal cargo alike. But locals here aren't thinking about exports. This is just where they work, catch up with friends and eat.

And when you're surrounded by this much fresh fish, skipping the local specialty just doesn't feel right. Here, ceviche served for breakfast.

CULVER: Trying to figure out what exactly I want to order. I think I'll go with something simple, the shrimp. But let me check with this guy.

CULVER (voice-over): The name of his stall caught my eye. Even in the middle of all of this, they still find humor.

CULVER: I asked them what does their slogan mean. He says with a big smile on his face, he's got sexual connection a bit. He said it'll help me to be able to have children. I think it's a bit more than an aphrodisiac is what he's telling me, which at this hour in the morning just feels inconsistent. But look around. I mean, this place from 5:00 a.m. onward is usually bustling. I mean, you've got families, you've got folks here who are either working and then those who are taking part and enjoying the cats.

Luis, that's really good. I asked him, what's life like here? He said at times it's difficult, and at times it's good. More often difficult than good. He said here, for the most part, in a space like this, it's a bit more relaxed.

But he said, you go to other parts not too far from here, and you'll get caught up in the criminal aspects of having to pay vacunas, extortion, which he says at times he's had to pay.

CULVER (voice-over): Extortion seeps into every corner of life here, and when people resist, the response is often brutal. So here's how it works. Gangs are selling drugs and extorting residents for cash. That cash is used to buy guns, which are then used to further expand their turf, taking more control over the drug flow. A relentless push for power.

Once a peaceful outlier, Ecuador is now the deadliest country in Latin America. This latest surge in violence was sparked in early 2024, when Ecuador's most feared gang leader, Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, known as Fito, escaped from prison. He's the infamous leader of Los Choneros, a gang with brutal reach and deep roots.

U.S. officials have even indicted Fito on weapons and drug charges and believe that he continues to run his gang while in hiding. The day after his escape, President Daniel Noboa declared a national emergency. DANIEL NOBAO, ECUADORIAN PRESIDENT: Ecuadorians, the time is over when drug trafficking convicts, hitmen and organized dictate to the government what to do.

CULVER (voice-over): In retaliation against the government, armed men stormed a TV news studio during a live broadcast and launched simultaneous attacks across the country, an effort to spread fear. It worked.

Although still missing, Vito's influence continues to loom over a country where nearly a quarter of the population survives on just a few dollars a day. And along the coast, the desperation cuts deeper. Whole neighborhoods built without permits. Families living in these illegal settlements with no other choice. It might look peaceful, but just two years ago, a gunman assassinated Manta's mayor on this street, a cross still marks the spot.

[21:30:03]

His faded campaign poster clings to a wall. We enter the neighborhood with caution, warned that gangs maintain a tight grip here. But folks we meet are eager to be heard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When it rains it floods in this part and you can't even walk. We have to take our shoes in our hands.

CULVER (voice-over): Open sewage nearby flows like a river. Still, they find joy where they can and generosity even with so little to give. One woman cares for her bedridden mother in law. Their fridge broke months ago and still hasn't been fixed.

CULVER: How is life here in this neighborhood, in this county?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As you can see, poverty, we live with the little we can afford. It's hard, my husband works, I can't work because I'm sick. I'm chubby, but I'm sick.

CULVER (vice-over): Still, through hardship, there's warmth. The kids sharing their dreams.

CULVER: Accounting. Wow, that's hard.

Even when you're warned of the dangers and the potential harm that can come, just stepping into a community like this, you're surrounded by nothing but warmth and a welcoming spirit. They treat you like gold. I mean, they welcome you into their homes. They have nothing. They have absolutely nothing. But they offer you juice, plantain chips, even a dip in the pool. The kids inviting us in.

There's a humility that you feel with these folks, but at the same time, a desperation. They say if you can't work, you turn to other things that are, as they point out, nefarious and that lead to trouble.

CULVER (voice-over): And sometimes that trouble ends exactly how you'd fear. Just a few blocks away, a funeral. CULVER: We were driving along this street. We noticed there was a hold

up. As soon as we looked out, we saw this crowd gathering behind this van. And you can see they've got the back door open. And this woman here is holding a photo.

CULVER (voice-over): A young couple gunned down just days earlier. He was 24, she was 19. In just one year, Manta's homicide rate has more than doubled. Coastal cities like this have become the epicenter of Ecuador's bloodshed, where poverty, ports and trafficking collide.

CULVER: One thing we noticed as soon as we came upon this group and we got permission from one of the victim's moms to film several of the folks who were part of this procession fanned out. They didn't want to be anywhere near the camera. In fact, there are a few walking alongside behind the camera, intentionally not wanting to be in view. The suspicion is that they're part of gangs and they don't want their faces broadcast.

CULVER (voice-over): The young man was reportedly a foot soldier for a local gang tasked with extorting his own community. He and his girlfriend were gunned down together. In this war, even loved ones are targets. Police say their killings were a message sent by a rival gang because violence here is not random. It's calculated, designed to protect profits by controlling the drug trade, a trade that's now moving faster than ever across cities, borders and oceans. And not just in fishing boats. The largest shipments of cocaine now hidden in Ecuador's most famous export, bananas.

(COMMERCIAL BREK)

[21:38:26]

CULVER: Roughly 70 percent of the world's cocaine now moves through Ecuador. Speedboats and fishing vessels can't handle that scale. This is global smuggling. Commercial shipping, industrial logistics. And often the drugs are hidden in something completely legal, Ecuador's top export bananas.

In Los Rios, Franklin Torres tours us through his plantation. Each banana is inspected, sorted and packed.

CULVER: Some of them don't make the cut, so they toss them right into this little bin here.

CULVER (voice-over): They're shipped to U.S. grocery stores under brands you probably recognize. In fact, one in every six bananas eaten globally comes from Ecuador.

CULVER: When you look at how big bananas are here in Ecuador, put it in perspective. You go to Colombia, you've got maybe 300 banana producers. Come here to Ecuador, you've got 6,000 banana producers. It just shows you how big of an industry it is.

CULVER (voice-over): Perishable, high volume, tight shipping schedule for smugglers, that's the perfect cover. In recent years, cocaine has been trafficked through more than 100 banana companies in Ecuador, with officials seizing more than 46,000 pounds of cocaine from farms in this region last year alone.

[21:40:02]

Even a company tied to Ecuador's president had half a ton of cocaine discovered in its shipments, likely added after it left the farm. That's now a common tactic.

CULVER: So the drugs don't get in here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's impossible. I would need the complicity of all the workers.

CULVER: He says if he, as a producer were to do that, he would have to be sure that all of those working, roughly 100 people on a day like today would be on board with how that would play out and essentially wouldn't rat him out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you have to understand is that 99 percent of Ecuadorians are good. And we want to do good.

CULVER (voice-over): Once the bananas leave the farm, anything can happen. We take the same route trucks take from Franklin's farm, through flooded roads, heading towards Ecuador's busiest port, Guayaquil. Locals make side money, guiding cars through the rough waters to avoid deep, hidden potholes.

CULVER: Rainfall overnight, leaving these streets, I mean just looking like rivers. They have their own currents at this point.

CULVER (voice-over): Cars stall, trucks break down. And that's when the gang strike, slipping cocaine into containers.

During the delays below the surface at Guayaquil's port, police divers move through dark waters, searching for what smugglers might have stashed beneath the ships.

This is Ecuador's busiest port. More than 800,000 containers move through here each year, most of them carrying bananas. And for police, the scale is overwhelming. They say only 2 to 3 percent of containers are inspected. They're either tipped off or the shipment took a suspiciously long time to reach the port. Once pulled aside, officers search every inch.

CULVER: Even looking at something as thin as this cardboard. Even right in here is where they'll find, as he says, impregnated. That's how they refer to it. Filled with drugs, essentially.

CULVER (voice-over): Officials say the real threat isn't just the volume, its corruption. Scanners at the port often don't work or are shut off. Multiple sources tell us some port workers are paid to look the other way or help move the drugs in directly.

CULVER: Said what they found recently is even in some of the doors, under the flooring, up in the ceilings. At times, they have found drugs stuffed in, as they say, contaminating the container. CULVER (voice-over): And here's why it matters. Every container that

slips through helps fund the violence inside Ecuador. 2025 is on track to be Ecuador's deadliest year on record. More than 25 killings every single day. Some 22 gangs in Ecuador are battling it out for control.

CULVER: We're turning left now into Los Joneros territory, one of the big gangs here in Ecuador. To our right, Los Lobos, their rival gang. So essentially we're on the border now between two rival gang territories. And the car in front of us, that's part of our CNN team. The car in front of that, it's a local contact who's helping guide us through once we start seeing people. Yes. OK, so we're just being told by Barbara, you stand by here. Do you want us to hold here or are you going to go first?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, we're going to, yes, we're going to be turning left and apparently that's where the first checkpoint is.

CULVER: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So standby and. It's OK. Just, yes, just give it a --

CULVER: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- a little bit of space.

CULVER: So we'll keep a little space here as they're making a left.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're waiting here, I think, for somebody to meet us.

CULVER: Keep behind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keep eyes on.

CULVER: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keep eyes on and -- but stay where you are. I can see three, four men approaching the car. They've got masks on, COVID style masks. And we're just taking it very slow.

CULVER (voice-over): We soon realized these aren't kingpins. They're the soldiers hoping to move up in a system that rewards violence and loyalty. To understand that system, we had to meet one of the men who runs it.

A senior gang leader agrees to talk, but only after dark. Away from crowds, out of sight, his face covered, his voice disguised.

[21:45:02]

He's less worried about police than he is rival gangs. If they find out he's talking, he says, they'd kill him and maybe us, too. He's willing to speak with us, if only to show the nuance. He says it's not good versus bad, but a story of desperation, of a system that left him and others with no real choice. But that doesn't change what he's done.

CULVER: So you have killed people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course I have.

CULVER (voice-over): This is a commander, high ranking, well connected and calling the shots. He says he joined a decade ago at 18 and now has a wife and young kids. He says he never expected to live this long.

CULVER: Why are you even part of a gang?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I didn't even have shoes growing up. They gave me everything. I had nothing to eat. I didn't have any opportunities in this county. And believe it or not, I'm a professional thanks to them.

CULVER (voice-over): For him, the gang provided what he never had. Food, money, respect. Even if it meant killing.

CULVER: but you're talking about the situation in this county, that it's in horrible situation. BU don't you think you part of the problem?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'm part of the problem.

CULVER: You admit you're part of the --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I admit, I'm part of the problem.

CULVER: And so why don't you stop?

UNIDENTIFIED MAL: Because it's a huge economy and no one wants to let go of good business.

CULVER (voice-over): And he says that business doesn't run without help from inside. You pay the police in a lot of money?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Truthfully, compared with other countries, Ecuador's police are cheap.

CULVER (voice-over): President Daniel Noboa has promised to clean house and root out corruption. Police commanders tell us they're also cracking down on gangs and on dirty cops. We join military police on a raid in Duran, a notorious gang stronghold. Officers here move fast, faces covered, to protect themselves and their families.

CULVER: OK, he's saying, get over here. We're going to round this corner here and see. You notice some of the streets have large rocks that they were blocking off. We're going to follow this officer. He said, continue down here. They're going door to door, essentially. Not clear yet what they're looking for, who they're looking for, but they've gone through at least three or four homes on this street alone.

And this guy here grilling up his lunch. You can see in his hand right there. Those are two. That's 200 grams, according to police, of cocaine that they've seized. That's what he's pulling out right now. Said they also found two different explosive devices inside. Goes for about $200 on the street.

CULVER (voice-over): And in the U.S. that'd be worth closer to $15,000. Police call us over to another house, a more gruesome find.

Are there still bodies inside?

Oh, my gosh. The smell is overwhelming as he's opened this door here, but from the outside looking in, you can see there's blood on the ground. Careful with your step here.

CULVER (voice-over): The couple who lived here was reportedly gunned down in their home for not paying the extortion. Killings like this one have become routine here. Police make a few arrests on this raid, not just to clean up the streets, but to gather intel. Arrests like these, they say, can help map the criminal chain of command.

A map that leads us here. A joint operation zeroing in one of Ecuador's most wanted.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:53:14]

CULVER: OK. So he's telling us we actually need to go now. Put my mic on. We weren't planning on rushing out. We were actually just sitting there having a conversation with one of the army generals. And in the midst of that conversation, we got told there's an operation that they're deploying to right now. So we're going to join them for that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alex, David in this car with the general.

CULVER: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We follow.

CULVER: OK. They want us to keep a really low profile once again, and that's why we're using what look like just everyday vehicles. However, license plates you can tell are ripped off. He said if were in armored vehicles all along the way, there would be essentially assets that belong to the gangs that would tip them off that were coming.

CULVER (voice-over): They move fast. The element of surprise is crucial. New powers allow Ecuador's military to enter homes without a warrant. We keep back watching from a distance as the military moves in, searching for drugs, guns, cash, and any trace of the infamous gang leader, Fito.

Raids like this are now happening daily. This one in the heart of a small commercial town. These workers pinned up against a wall as soldiers force their way in. Each search, officials say, brings fresh intel.

CULVER: A lot of the gang leaders live in this area. And you can see some of the markings of Choneros, which is one of the big gangs here in Ecuador, if not the biggest, which is at war with Los Lobos, another big gang.

CULVER (voice-over): Now they're off to the next stop, trying to find who police say is a higher level target.

[21:55:05]

CULVER: You can see there are a bunch of security cameras around this home. So whoever was living here was trying to make sure they knew who was coming and going. He's going to take down those cameras.

CULVER (voice-over): What officials find inside, they say is leading them closer to Fito. We see that more than two months later as police raid homes that they say are tied to Fito's relatives. Six of the gang leader's family members taken into custody. A strike at what authorities call the financial backbone of his criminal empire.

But here's the thing about Ecuador today. It's not all raids and chaos. There are bubbles, pockets that resemble the U.S. or even Europe, places where money still insulates. But even here, the illusion of safety is slipping away. We sit down for a meal with our producer Abel and his childhood friend Joaquin. Both are from Ecuador.

ABEL ALVARADO, CNN PRODUCER: So as soon as something happens, it spreads on WhatsApp. Whenever you know, someone, for example, in this area gets shot or killed.

CULVER: You know people who have been robbed.

ALVARADO: We all do. We all do, yes.

CULVER: You find yourself --

JOAQUIN VILLAMAR, ECUADORIAN CITIZEN: We don't go to a lot of places or you don't want to leave your house because you don't know what's going to happen in front of my parents have been kidnapped, they have been robbed.

CULVER: They've been kidnapped.

VILLAMAR: Yes. Nowadays you don't really have to have a lot of money for that. It's just maybe asking for a couple thousand dollars.

CULVER: So they're targeting everyone.

VILLARMAR: Everyone.

CULVER (voice-over): They've never seen it this bad. The kidnappings, the killings, the growing sense that no one is safe anymore.

In Ecuador, even closure can be cruel. For more than three months, Alejandro's parents have been anxiously waiting for some news of their missing son. Hoping, praying, a lot of praying.

Today they've been called to the police station. His mother stayed at home. She struggles facing the potential heartbreak. Juan holds tight to his worn Bible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm asking the Lord to give me strength to give me strength for all the things that I am going to find out.

CULVER (voice-over): He fears the worst.

Hours earlier, two young suspects lead police into the darkness trekking through thick mud. They tell us a higher ranking gang member ordered them to shoot and kill Alejandro. They didn't ask why, they just followed orders, they say.

Officers tell them to start digging handcuffs and barefoot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's an arm, that's the arm.

CULVER (voice-over): They carry the remains on a makeshift stretcher. A 20-minute hike to the forensics truck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: White T-shirt, black shorts, right my commander? Yes.

CULVER (voice-over): Police tell the suspects to clean themselves off in a dirty pond. But some things can't be washed away.

Alejandro's father, Juan, walks into the police station, still clutching his Bible. There is always hope. But as time passes, it becomes more difficult to believe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Due to the clothing, the garments found have almost similar characteristics, trunks and a white T-shirt, just as the report you filed.

CULVER (voice-over): It could take weeks for DNA to confirm the identity, but police say with the clothing and physical markers, they're 90 percent sure it's his son.

Alejandro was one of thousands across this country pulled into a system that treats people as disposable and place money, power, control above all else. This is a network that spans oceans and sinks its roots in desperation, sustained by corruption, fueled by global demand. The profits move on, but the bodies stay behind. They always stay behind.

And until that demand dries up, officials warn the killing will continue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)