During the Vietnam War, the CIA recruited Hmong tribesmen in the hills of Laos to fight the Communists, then brought them as refugees to America. Forty years later in California, someone who might be a CIA operative approaches a Hmong human rights activist about buying weapons to continue the fight.

When a Vietnam War refugee who has grown up in America is solicited by a self-proclaimed arms dealer, he finds himself drawn into a dangerous game of politics and intrigue that could end with a life sentence in prison for him and the beloved leaders of his community. Showing how the aftershocks of war reverberate across continents and generations, OPERATION POPCORN is a true-crime tale of an opportunistic community activist transformed into an international terrorist.