Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas) is a judge tapped by the U.S. President to lead America's war on drugs. But his war on drugs begins at home with his daughter Caroline.
Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) is an agent from the DEA trying to bring down a major U.S. importer of cocaine. His biggest task is keeping a key witness alive long enough to testify.
Traffic (2000) is the story of the war on drugs, as seen from various vantage points in multiple countries. One underlying theme: no one gets away clean.
Helena Ayala (Catherine Zeta-Jones) learns that her husband is a major drug dealer. She then positions herself to continue his operations and have the government's chief witness killed to free him from prison.
Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro) is a Mexican drug agent who finds himself stuck amid corruption, murder and deceit while trying to bring down a Tijuana drug cartel. In "Traffic," we learn that no one gets away clean.
[high on coke] We act like we have all the answers and we're totally invincible, like our parents seem and their parents before them, and I'm sorry, that I have to be the one to say this, but it's fucking bullshit. For instance I know you jack-off thinking about Caroline even though you're supposedly "in love" with Vanessa. Whatever the fuck that means? I mean, what is that convention anyway? We're all this random collection of self-interest, and we just decide that we're gonna walk two by two down the fucking aisle to Noah's ark?