In 1978,
Baton Rouge pilot
Barry Seal, who flies commercial jets for
TWA, is recruited by
CIA case officer Monty Schafer. He asks Seal, who has been smuggling
Cuban cigars into the country to make a little money, to fly reconnaissance missions over Central America using an
Aerostar 600, outfitted with aerial surveillance cameras. Seal accepts the job, but hides it from his wife, Lucy. In the 1980s, Schafer asks Seal to act as a courier between the CIA and
General Noriega in Panama. During a mission, the
Medellín Cartel picks Seal up and asks him to fly cocaine on his return flights to the US. Seal accepts and flies the cartel's cocaine to
Louisiana, airdropping the drug in the countryside. The CIA turns a blind eye to the drug smuggling, but the
DEA tracks Seal down. To avoid the authorities, Seal and his family relocate to
Mena, Arkansas and his wife comes to accept the wealth generated by his side job. The small town becomes wealthy as the hub of US cocaine trafficking. Later, Schafer asks Seal to run guns to the
Nicaraguan Contras in Honduras. Realizing the Contras are not serious about the war and just want to get rich, Seal starts trading the guns to the cartel. The CIA sets up a Contra training base in Mena and Seal flies the Contras in, but many of them escape as soon as they arrive. Seal makes so much money he buries it in suitcases in the backyard. Seal's freeloading, unemployed brother-in-law JB moves in. JB starts stealing money and is arrested with a briefcase full of cash. With JB out on bail, Seal gives him money and a plane ticket to
Bora Bora for his safety. JB demands weekly cash and insults Lucy. As Seal chases after him, JB is killed by a car bomb placed by the Medellín Cartel, who had previously promised to "take care" of the JB problem. The FBI catches wind of the sudden exuberance on the streets of Mena, not helped by JB's reckless spending. Eventually, the CIA shuts down the program and abandons Seal, who is arrested by the
FBI, DEA,
ATF and
Arkansas State Police simultaneously. Seal escapes prosecution by making a deal with the
White House, which wants evidence of the
Sandinistas being drug traffickers. They ask him to get photos that tie the Medellín Cartel to the Nicaraguan Sandinistas. Seal manages to get them, but the White House releases them as propaganda against the Sandinistas. Seal is prominently shown in the pictures, which leads to his indictment by the crusading state attorney general and the cartel plotting revenge. Seal is convicted but sentenced to only 1,000 hours of
community service. Moving from motel to motel making
video recordings detailing his experiences, Seal expects an
explosion any time he starts his car. As his community service is performed at the same
Salvation Army building every night, Seal cannot hide from the cartel and is shot dead by an assassin. The CIA destroys all evidence connecting them to Seal and continues smuggling, instead
using Iran to get guns to the Contras, as proposed by Schafer. The film ends with Schafer getting promoted for his idea, though it is soon discovered by the public with reporters asking
President Reagan and
Vice President Bush about the scandal. Lucy and her kids move back to
Baton Rouge, where she is seen contentedly working in fast food. One of her expensive pieces of jewelry is seen on her wrist. ==Cast==