Tintin finds himself in the middle of a mystery involving a drowned man, a tin of crab meat, and a piece of paper with the name Karaboudjan on it. He follows the clues to a ship by the same name and finds its crew is using the crab tins to smuggle opiates out of the country, and all under the nose of the ship's drunken captain Haddock.After Tintin & Haddock successfully escape from the Karaboudjan, they now find themselves lost in a desert. After passing out from the long walk through the vast hot sand they were rescued by an army that is stationed at a fort. After receiving water and camels for transportation, Tintin and Haddock head towards the nearest town. While they're there, Haddock discovers that the Karaboudjan is there only under a different name while Tintin discovers that Alan the Skipper who is leader of the crew's drug business is present in town. The only way to stop the mutiny crew is by finding the kingpin of the operations and Alan is Tintin's only link in finding the base of their operations.
