Above the Law 1988

Nico Toscani is an expert martial artist who is recruited by the CIA during the Vietnam War. While serving in covert operations on the Vietnamese-C Cambodian border, he becomes disgusted with agent Kurt Zagon, who tortures prisoners. A tense stand-off erupts when Toscani tries to stop him, and this confrontation ultimately leads to Toscani leaving the CIA.

Years later, Nico Toscani is married and working as a detective in the Chicago Police Department’s vice squad. He teams up with his new partner, Delores “Jacks” Jackson, to take down a drug ring. After they bust two dealers, including Salvadorian kingpin Tony Salvano, they uncover the explosive presence of C-4 on the crime scene. Soon after, federal officials push back, ordering Toscani to stand down and releasing the arrested men, leaving him with a sense of betrayal and frustration.

The case takes a darker turn when the parish priest is killed in an explosion during Mass. Toscani’s former CIA contact, Nelson Fox, reaches out with a warning that his family could be in danger, pressing him to relocate to safety. Under intense pressure from federal authorities, Toscani considers surrendering his badge. As he digs deeper, he uncovers a chilling link: the drug dealers he captured are connected to Kurt Zagon, who remains active within the CIA and is accused of serious human rights violations by a Central American priest sheltered by Toscani’s parish priest. A brutal assault ensues when Zagon’s men close in while Toscani interrupts a dangerous moment of torture. In the ensuing gunfight, Detectives Jackson and Lukich are wounded, forcing Toscani to flee for his life.

On the political front, U.S. Senator Ernest Harrison is probing Zagon’s network to expose the ties to drug trafficking. Tos can i uncovers that Zagon is planning to eliminate Harrison as well. Fox confronts Toscani during a rooftop surveillance, but their efforts are interrupted by Zagon’s lethal forces. Fox is killed, Toscani is captured, and heFinds himself restrained in the kitchen of a hotel during Harrison’s campaign rally. In a dramatic turn, Toscani breaks free just before Zagon can strike Harrison, and a final confrontation erupts. He defeats Zagon and the remaining enforcers, delivering a pivotal blow to the corrupt operation.

In the aftermath, Harrison is brought up to speed and promises justice, while Toscani declares his willingness to testify about his covert experiences with Zagon and the CIA. The story closes with a sense of uneasy victory and a commitment to reveal the truth, as Toscani contemplates the broader implications of a life spent between two worlds: the shadows of covert operations and the public duty of law enforcement.