Los Angeles police sergeant Roger Murtaugh and his partner, Sergeant Martin Riggs, are working on yet another drug related case. Soon after finding 1 million dollars worth of South African krugerrand in a crashed red BMW after a chase, Riggs and Murtaugh are assigned to keep an eye on Leo Getz, who is scheduled to testify in a case. There are people who don't want Leo to testify, and they are a group of drug smugglers led by Arjen Rudd, the minister of diplomatic affairs for the South African consulate. Rudd turns out to be the man that Riggs and Murtaugh are after in the drug case they were working on before Leo was placed in their protective custody, which doesn't look very protective when Leo is kidnapped by Rudd's right hand man Pieter Vorstedt. Riggs ends up falling for Rudd's secretary Rika Van Den Haas, who doesn't like Rudd. In a confrontation with Vorstedt, Riggs is told the true circumstances behind the death of his wife Vicky, who died in a car crash in 1984 the car crash was caused by Vorstedt, who was supposed to have killed Riggs. Minutes after Vorstedt tries to kill Riggs, Riggs finds Rika dead, and this sends Riggs over the edge.