In Paris, France, a senior officer of the U. S. Embassy’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Steve Ventura, identifies the body of undercover agent Frank Matthews at a morgue. Steve and his colleague, Kovakian, suspect that French drug kingpin Jacques Brizard is behind the murder. Later, Steve meets with Briac, a French narcotics officer, who says that Brizard is too well-guarded and politically connected to be pursued. When Steve tells Fred, his DEA boss, that he wants to go back into the field, he is denied. Soon after, Steve is stopped on the street and forced into a car by two thugs. At a stoplight, he runs out of the car and leads the thugs on a foot chase through a train station. Having evaded his captors, Steve meets with Briac, who confirms that the kidnappers were employees of Brizard. Steve says he wants to hire someone to kill Brizard, who is currently in Marseilles, and though Briac refuses to collaborate, he offers the contact information of an assassin. At a park, Steve meets the hired killer, Johnny Deray, who happens to be an old friend. Although Steve is taken aback that Deray has taken on a life of crime, Deray coolly explains that the “contract” will cost $25,000, but increases the price to $50,000 when he learns that the target is Brizard. The next day, Steve gives Deray the money and a dossier on Brizard and his daughter, Lucianne. While Deray travels to Marseilles, Steve and Kovakian meet an informant in Paris. For $1,000, the man reveals that a shipment of drugs containing 400 kilos of morphine is headed to Marseilles from Turkey, and will be received by Brizard’s men. Hoping the information will lead to an arrest, Steve changes his mind about killing Brizard and asks Briac to arrest Deray before he has a chance to commit the murder. In Marseilles, Deray follows Lucianne as she drives on a windy road. He flirtatiously challenges her to a road race, and they end up at a restaurant together. Lucianne invites Deray to dinner at her home, where he introduces himself as “Davos”; however, Brizard discovers Deray’s real name and learns that he has a police record for bank robbery and murder. Brizard suggests Deray take a ride with him, and, in the car, asks what kind of gun he carries. Deray hands over his gun, and Brizard admires it. They arrive at a construction site, where they take an elevator to the top floor of an unfinished skyscraper. On the elevator, Brizard offers Deray $50,000 to kill a man, and Deray agrees. They meet Calmet, one of Brizard’s operatives, on the roof, along with the informant who met with Steve in Paris. Following Brizard’s orders, Deray pushes the informant over the side of the building. Calmet places Deray’s wallet in the man’s pocket, and Briac later informs Steve that Deray died, as authorities mistook the dead body for Deray. Hired by Brizard as a full-time employee, Deray agrees to make a drug delivery somewhere outside of Lyon. However, at the meeting spot, two undercover officers try to arrest Deray, and he flees, barely escaping on a train. Arriving in Marseilles, Deray sees two of Brizard’s thugs awaiting him at the station and sneaks past on a mail truck. Although Calmet tries to ambush him on the street, Deray steals a motorcycle and rides away. When Deray calls Lucianne to meet him at the yacht club, Brizard eavesdrops and sends another assassin after him. However, Deray kills the assassin in the yacht club parking lot. Deray calls Steve from his hotel lobby and leaves a message with his contact information. One of Brizard’s thugs follows Deray back to his room, but Deray is aware of the man’s presence and kills him first. A French police detective named Marsak tells Steve that Brizard is hosting a charity ball that night, but warns that Brizard should be left alone, even though the 400 kilos of morphine are expected to arrive that night as well. At the hotel, Steve asks Deray to cease his pursuit of Brizard, asserting that he will kill the man himself. Deray suggests that Steve will need help if he wants to murder Brizard, so the two travel together to a bar. There, they find one of Brizard’s thugs and strangle him to death. Back at the construction site, Briac stops Brizard at gunpoint, announcing his plans to steal the morphine shipment. A gunfight erupts as Deray and Steve arrive. Brizard speeds away while his men stay behind. In the shootout, Deray is shot and killed. Steve returns to the charity ball where he finds Brizard on the dance floor with Lucianne. Steve dances up to Brizard and shoots him in the back, hurrying away as Brizard drops dead.