A conservative judge is appointed by the President to spearhead America's escalating war against drugs, only to discover that his teenage daughter is a crack addict. Two DEA agents protect an informant. A jailed drug baron's wife attempts to carry on the family business.
An intertwined drama about the United States' war on drugs, seen through the eyes of a once conservative judge, now newly-appointed drug czar, his heroin-addicted daughter, two DEA agents, a jailed drug kingpin's wife, and a Mexican cop who begins to question his boss's motives.
A modern day look at America's war on drugs told through four separate stories that are connected in one way or another. A conservative judge who's just been appointed as the US drug czar learns that his teenage honor student daughter is a drug addict. A beautiful trophy wife struggles to save her wealthy husband's drug business, while two DEA agents protect a witness with inside knowledge of the spouse's business. In Mexico, a slightly corrupt, yet dedicated cop struggles with his conscience when he learns that his new boss may not be the anti-drug official he made himself out to be.—<[email protected]>
Intertwining vignettes frame this tale of America's escalating War on Drugs. Ohio Supreme Court judge Robert Wakefield has been appointed the nation's Drug Czar, his new position made more daunting by the discovery that his teenage daughter Caroline is a cocaine addict. Meanwhile, DEA agents Montel Gordon and Ray Castro are pursuing Helena Ayala, wife of jailed kingpin Carlos Ayala, as she seeks to the control the business that her husband had kept hidden from her. South of the Border, duplicious local constable Javier Rodriguez is fighting the battle with his own jaded, questionable ethical code.—N. Cognito <nobody@noplace>
Mexico story-lineIn Mexico, police officer Javier Rodriguez (Del Toro) and his partner Manolo Sanchez (Vargas) stop a drug transport and arrest the couriers. Their arrest is interrupted by General Salazar (Milian), a high-ranking Mexican official who decides to hire Javier. Salazar instructs him to locate and apprehend Francisco Flores (Collins), a notorious hit-man for the Tijuana Cartel, headed by the Obregon brothers.
Back in Tijuana, Flores, under torture, gives Salazar the names of important members of the Obregon cartel, who are arrested in a large effort by police and army soldiers. Javier and Salazar's efforts begin to cripple the Obregon brothers' cocaine outfit, but Javier soon discovers Salazar is a pawn for the Juárez Cartel, the rival of the Obregon brothers. That entire portion of the Mexican anti-drug campaign is a fraud, as Salazar is wiping out one cartel because he has aligned with another for profit.
Javier's partner Sanchez attempts to sell the information of Salazar's true affiliation to the DEA but is killed for his betrayal. Javier, who can no longer stomach working for Salazar, decides to make a deal with the DEA. In exchange for his testimony, Javier requests electricity in his neighborhood so the kids can play baseball at night rather than be tempted by street gangs and crime. Salazar's secrets are revealed to the public and he is arrested and dies in prison.Javier explains to the media about the widespread corruption in the police force and army. In Mexico, Javier watches as children play baseball at night in their new stadium.
Wakefield story-lineMeanwhile, Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas), a conservative Ohio judge, is appointed to head the President's Office of National Drug Control, taking on the title drug czar. Robert is warned by his predecessor (Brolin) and several influential politicians that the War on Drugs is unwinnable. His daughter, Caroline (Christensen), an honors student, has been using cocaine and develops a drug addiction after her boyfriend Seth (Grace) introduces her to free-basing heroin. Caroline and Seth are arrested when a fellow student overdoses on drugs at a party. As Robert and his wife Barbara (Irving) struggle to deal with the problem, he discovers that she has known about their daughter's involvement with drugs for over six months.
Robert realizes his daughter Caroline is a drug addict and is caught between his demanding new position and difficult family life. On a visit to Mexico, he is encouraged by the successful efforts of Salazar in hurting the Obregon brothers. When he returns to Ohio, Robert learns his efforts to see Caroline rehabilitated have failed. She ran away to the city of Cincinnati, where no one knows her location. She steals from her parents and prostitutes herself to procure money for drugs.Robert drags Seth along as he begins to search Cincinnati for his daughter. After a drug dealer with whom Caroline had frequently had sex refuses to reveal her whereabouts, Robert breaks into a seedy hotel room and finds a semi-conscious Caroline acting as a prostitute to an older man. He breaks down in tears as Seth quietly leaves.
Robert returns to Washington, D.C., to give his prepared speech on a "10-point plan" to combat the war on drugs. In the middle of the speech, he falters, then tells the press that the War on Drugs implies a war even on some people's own family members, which he cannot endorse. He then walks out of the press conference and takes a taxi to the airport.Robert and Barbara go to Narcotics Anonymous meetings with their daughter to support her and others.
Ayala/DEA story-lineA third story is set in San Diego, where an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigation led by Montel Gordon (Cheadle) and Ray Castro (Guzmán) leads to the arrest of Eduardo Ruiz (Ferrer), a high-stakes dealer posing as a fisherman. Ruiz decides to take the dangerous road to immunity by giving up his boss: drug lord Carlos Ayala (Bauer), the biggest distributor for the Obregon brothers in the United States. Ayala is indicted by a tough prosecutor, hand-selected by Robert to send a message to the Mexican drug organizations.
As the trial against Carlos Ayala begins, his pregnant wife Helena (Catherine Zeta-Jones) learns of her husband's true profession. Facing the prospect of life imprisonment for her husband and death threats against her only child, Helena decides to hire Flores to assassinate Eduardo Ruiz; she knows killing Ruiz will effectively end the trial Nolle Prosequi. Flores plants a car bomb on a DEA car in an assassination attempt against Ruiz. Shortly after planting the bomb, Flores is assassinated by a sniper in retaliation for his co-operation with General Salazar; the car bomb kills Castro, but Gordon and Ruiz survive.
Helena, knowing Ruiz is soon scheduled to testify, makes a deal with Juan Obregon (Bratt), lord of the drug cartel, who forgives the debt of the Ayala family and has Ruiz poisoned. Ayala is released, much to the dissatisfaction of Gordon, who is still angry over the death of his partner. Soon after the release, Gordon bursts into the Ayala residence and surreptitiously plants a microphone under his desk.
