Skin Trade 2015

Tony Vitayakul, an RTP detective in Thailand, subdues a group of human traffickers under the pretext of ‘buying’ a Thai girl. He quietly gathers clues about the ship used to transport the trafficked girls and traces its destination, learning that Viktor Dragovic, a Serbian mobster, will be there to receive the shipment. The pursuit unfolds with a cool, methodical approach as he pieces together the operation from the ground up, emphasizing his patience, street smarts, and resolve in a dangerous world.

Meanwhile, Nick Cassidy, a NPD detective in Newark, New Jersey, uncovers that Dragovic has slipped into the United States and is operating on a global scale. Cassidy and his captain, Costello, brief a group of officers on Dragovic’s reach and the brutality of his trafficking network. As Dragovic’s ship bearing a container nears American shores, the tension climbs: Cassidy prepares to intercept at the dock, while authorities work to outmaneuver a criminal empire that spans continents. When the vessel finally arrives, Dragovic learns that the women transported in his container did not survive the journey. The ship’s captain is tortured and executed, and a fierce firefight erupts as police close in. In a grave moment of self-defense, Cassidy fires and kills Dragovic’s youngest son, Andre, and Dragovic himself is eventually arrested, a hard-earned victory overshadowed by the violence that surrounds them.

While Dragovic sits in custody, he arranges a brutal vendetta against Cassidy’s family, driving home the personal cost of his crimes. Cassidy’s wife and daughter, Sofia, are killed in the ensuing attack, though Cassidy survives. Costello and Reed, an FBI agent, visit Cassidy in the hospital to deliver news that Dragovic has fled the country. With a mix of grit and desperation, Cassidy seizes clothes and an opiate, then arms himself and makes a bold move toward Dragovic’s legal representative, forcing the attorney to disclose Dragovic’s whereabouts, shooting him, and blowing up the restaurant in a dramatic strike against the criminal network.

In a high-stakes international move, Senator Khat in Cambodia warns Dragovic that he must leave immediately or face extradition. Dragovic counters with a sharp blackmail tactic, gaining two weeks to settle his affairs and escape. Cassidy, driven by vengeance and a stubborn sense of justice, travels to Thailand to chase his quarry across Southeast Asia. US authorities fear Cassidy has suffered a mental break, sending Reed to detain him, while Vitayakul and his partner Nung are ordered to assist in the arrest. At Suvarnabhumi Airport, Cassidy breaks away from the pursuing police through a tense escape. Reed, corrupted by Dragovic, kills Nung and tries to pin the crime on Cassidy. The chase heats up as Vitayakul pursues Cassidy through crowded streets, but the fugitive evades capture.

The pursuit leads Cassidy to a Poipet nightclub, where he intensifies the search by torturing a Dragovic man to learn the next move. Simultaneously, Vitayakul and Reed converge to arrest him, but Cassidy fights his way free, forcing a deadly cat-and-mouse dynamic on the crowded scene. Reed’s whispered tip about an informant—Vitayakul’s girlfriend, Min—deepens the intrigue, driving the investigators to break the case from two different angles. The pursuit then shifts to an illegal operation run by Dragovic’s progeny, Janko, who oversees the Southeast Asian trafficking network.

A tense warehouse confrontation erupts as Cassidy and Janko’s men collide, and Janko is killed by his own half-brothers, Ivan and Goran Dragovic. The betrayal continues as Vitayakul learns the truth about Reed’s death and ends up killing Reed in a fatal confrontation. Before dying, Janko reveals Dragovic’s location. The next day, Cassidy and Vitayakul join forces to storm Dragovic’s compound. In a series of brutal moments, Ivan is forced to surrender Min, and Vitayakul eliminates him. Cassidy then destroys a vehicle with a rocket launcher, forcing Dragovic to abandon his helicopter and flee. In the ensuing firefight, Goran is killed in a clash with Vitayakul, and Cassidy finally faces Dragovic in a brutal duel, stabbing him in the chest despite Dragovic’s attempt to commandeer a second helicopter. Dragovic’s last revelation is that Sofia is alive but trapped within the trafficking network, a truth that shatters Cassidy’s resolve as Dragovic dies from his injuries.

In the aftermath, Cassidy says farewell to Vitayakul and Min, handing them a photo of Sofia and asking them to safeguard it until he finds her. With renewed determination, Cassidy sets out alone to locate Sofia, carrying the weight of his loss but the stubborn hope of redemption. The story closes on a note of unresolved vigil, anchored by the promise that the search for Sofia continues, and the bond between two determined detectives remains intact despite the personal costs they’ve paid.