Far away from his own family, 12-year-old Diego is taken in by the Ricardos -- coca farmers (cocaleros) struggling to earn a livelihood by growing a plant that the native people of Bolivia have used for centuries as a tea and medicine. But coca can also be made into cocaine, a drug that is smuggled into North America and sold illegally. Diego finds himself caught in the middle, torn between his loyalty to his new friends and his desire to return to his family.