“OIG Investigators found that the DEA paid one airline employee tens of thousands of dollars over the past several years in proceeds from cash seized as a result of their tips. However, the vast majority of those airport seizures aren’t accompanied by criminal prosecutions. This has led to years of complaints from civil liberties groups that the DEA is abusing civil asset forfeiture—a practice that allows police to seize cash and other property suspected of being connected to criminal activity such as drug trafficking, even if the owner is never arrested or charged with a crime.”
Here’s how I see this grift working:
DEA agent gets info about cash mule coming across, but can’t get reward.
Airport employee in on con gets a phone call from agent
Report “tip” and gets reward
Agent gets commission
Rinse, repeat
Follow the reward money and see who needs a corruption trial.
You think that’s somehow more likely than:
Fucker with full access to your bags while you’re nowhere near them looks through your shit
When they find a bag full of money, said fucker gets to legally take a percentage by just tipping off the DEA, instead of just robbing you and risking being caught
?