Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) and Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) are best friends and detectives in the narcotics division of the Miami Police Department. One night, $100 million of seized heroin is stolen from a secure police vault. This is a major blow to Burnett and Lowrey, because it was the biggest drug bust of their careers. Internal Affairs thinks that it was an inside job and warns Miami PD that if they do not recover the drugs in five days, the narcotics division will be shut down.


Lowrey asks one of his informants and ex-girlfriend Maxine "Max" Logan to look for people, who are newly rich and therefore suspects. She gets herself and her best friend Julie Mott (Téa Leoni) hired as escorts by Eddie Domínguez, a former cop and part of the coup. His boss, French drug kingpin Fouchet (Tchéky Karyo), does not want the coup to be endangered by outsiders and therefore shoots Max and Dominguez. After witnessing the murder, Julie manages to escape over the roof.