The events unfold in the USSR in 1979. The height of Brezhnev-era stagnation and... smuggling, which was "protected" at the very highest levels of the Party hierarchy. Investigator Alexander Kostenko, played by Pavel Maykov, must confront the merger of criminal elements and government officials. The detective moves to Moscow from a port city to investigate the reasons behind the mysterious death of his friend and colleague. This is how he learns that very powerful people profit from caviar smuggling—people it is best not to stand in the way of. However, as a principled investigator, Kostenko is not afraid of trouble, and it snowballs as Alexander gets closer to solving the mystery.
The series conveys the realities of life in the country at that time with considerable accuracy, as well as how corruption systematically eroded the very foundations of the state, turning talented leaders into ordinary crooks obsessed solely with the thirst for profit. Moreover, the events depicted are based on the real-life "fish case," which first drew the attention of the Prosecutor General's Office to the flourishing smuggling trade. Pavel Maykov's character is also based on the real-life investigator Vladimir Kalinichenko.
