Bond (Timothy Dalton) aids Felix Leiter in the capture of drugs lord Franz Sanchez; Sanchez escapes and maims Leiter, killing his wife. Bond swears revenge, but is ordered to return to duty by M. Bond refuses, and M revokes his license to kill, causing Bond to become a rogue agent; although officially stripped of his status, he is unofficially given help by Q.
Bond journeys to Sanchez's home in the Republic of Isthmus and is taken onto Sanchez's staff, where he manages to raise Sanchez's suspicions against a number of his employees. When Bond is taken to Sanchez's main base and drugs refinery, he is recognised by one of Sanchez's men and captured. He escapes, destroying the refinery in the process, and pursues Sanchez, killing him.