In 1986, mobster Tommy Vercetti is released from prison after serving a fifteen-year sentence for murder. His boss Sonny Forelli, seeking to establish drug operations in the South, sends Tommy to Vice City to oversee an important drug deal alongside crooked lawyer Ken Rosenberg. However, the deal is ambushed by unknown assailants, with Tommy and Ken barely escaping. Angered upon hearing the news, Sonny orders Tommy to recover the drugs, alongside the money Sonny gave to him, under threat of consequences.