Drug lord Frank White (Christopher Walken) is released from Sing-Sing prison after serving a number of years for drug trafficking. He is reunited with his former gang, led by the murderous Jimmy Jump, as well as his personal female bodyguards Raye and Melanie, and his lover/legal annalist Jennifer. After seeing his old neighborhood more dilapidated and depressing than ever, Frank decides to do good by eliminating his competitors whom filled the void left by his incarceration, then steal their money and drugs to finance a new South Bronx hospital for the needy. But Frank's past won't let go of him when a group of overzealous cops, led by corrupt detective Roy Bishop, frustrated at the lack of clues to nail Frank on for the current street killings, decide to take matters into their own hands.