A stakeout isn’t going as expected. The cops are only on surveillance, but their quarry Morales is supposed to be experienced, so why is he acting so nervous? And when the suspect makes the drop and leaves empty-handed, it’s really not making sense. Sonny & Rico tail him to a barge on the dock and watch him go inside to free what looks like someone tied up. The barge explodes, leaving Sonny & Rico to wonder, “What is going on?” Homicide’s Lieutenant Jones wants to write it off as “The Politics Of Contraband”, but Castillo gets a call from Ed Waters, DEA, informing him, Sonny, Rico, and Trudy Joplin that what they observed was the latest in a string of assaults against the families of mid-level dealers in South Florida. Rico understands the racket all too well.

Worse, someone in law enforcement is selling the information to these attackers. To find out who, Sonny & Rico agree to pose as smugglers and move a large shipment of coke in from Cartagena. Trudy will stay behind as the bait, posing as Rico’s wife. Arrangements seem to be their department, and once they lift off, they’re on their own. 25 grand brings in Jimmy, Sonny & Rico’s laid-back, guitar jamming, violence-hating pilot with no-questions-asked (wisely). As soon as Trudy’s in hiding and the drop site is arranged, they’re off on Trans-Love Airlines.

In Cartagena, Ricardo tentatively sets up the deal with Morales’s supplier, Grocero, as Jimmy covers them from the hotel balcony. No sooner then they leave the meeting than they’re jumped in the alley behind the hotel. With Jimmy’s help, Sonny & Rico overpower the three thugs, but the police arrive and Rico is handcuffed. Jimmy has to restrain Sonny from interfering with the arrest. (What good would Sonny be to Rico if they were both in jail?) Rico meets with Lt. Todo, who promises to speak to Grocero and seal the deal. A tense meeting starts with some haggling over the price, but the deal is made, and then the exchange. But Grocero’s men apparently want more money, surprising them at the airfield and attempting to block the runway. Sonny and Rico hold them off with machine-gun fire long enough for Jimmy to get the plane off the ground. But landing outside Miami isn’t any easier. Airport guys jump Sonny & Rico as they’re picking up the dropped shipment, and Jimmy has to open fire on his own mechanics, getting winged in the process. Seems one mechanic is the hitman, but he’s never met who hired him for the other attacks.

The crooked lawmen have already gotten to Trudy. She’s tied up inside a trailer with a bomb. Castillo directs Sonny to go in with the defuser, while Rico waits for the leak’s call. When it does, Rico has to meet him at a bridge over the river, where he’s set up his escape. Sonny has to keep Trudy steady while the bomb squad dismantles the trigger. Rico leaps from the bridge and fights with the bomber, ending up pointing their guns at each other. If the bomber lets go of his trigger, the trailer explodes. Rico tries to convince him there’s no way out, Vice units have him surrounded. The trailer blows and all open fire on the bomber. Then Rico gets word from Sonny that everyone is safe. The bomber’s body is pulled from the water and unmasked to reveal that it’s Lt. Jones! Waters shakes his head, not understanding why he’d go bad. Sonny, Rico, and Castillo write it off to

This episode’s script was written by Miguel Pinero, who some Vice fans might recognize from playing the infamous “Calderon”. This is the favorite episode of C.T. Warren, your humble synopsizer. And singer Glenn Frey, who played Jimmy the pilot, scored a top 10 hit with the song “Smuggler’s Blues” heard in the show, and once guest starred with Don Johnson on Nash Bridges.

Thanks to the fellow Miami Vice Fan that wrote this synopsis

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