Belgium, the early 1980s. Jan Laureys wants to see the world and enjoy life, but reluctantly becomes a gendarme. His father, himself an officer in the gendarme, wants it that way. When Jan hears about the CDI, a new unit that will tackle drug criminals using American methods, he immediately applies. The CDI doesn't wear uniforms, so he can continue to parade around the barracks courtyard in his fashionable outfits.

And so Jan meets Bob, an American DEA agent who comes to train the Belgian elite police force in American police techniques. After a major screw-up, the CDI loses a lot of money from the gendarme. To save face, they decide, on Bob's advice, to earn the money back by selling drugs themselves. As always, everything goes well... until it goes wrong. Especially for Jan.