When British schoolteacher Howard Marks agrees to help an old friend finish off a drug deal, he has no idea that it will be the start of a new career. Attracted by the easy money and the thrill of being a smuggler, he is soon running a huge transatlantic operation. But when one of his loads is busted, Howard becomes a wanted man and goes on the run. Concealing his identity using a string of aliases, he continues to smuggle over the next 6 years.