Wayne Montgomery is a young naive California surfer, living free and happy in Lima, Peru in 1980. Suddenly he is framed on phony drug charges and thrown into Lima's infamous El Sexto prison. Corrupt police officials move to extort money from Wayne's family, but the surfer won't cooperate. Instead, in prison, Wayne meets a series of eccentric and dangerous characters who compel him to grow up in a hurry and find a way to escape.