DETROIT -- Authorities said they arrested 13 people and seized more than $500,000 in cash after breaking up a smuggling ring that collected millions of beverage containers in other states and cashed them in for 10 cents apiece in Michigan.

A total of 15 people were named in a 67-count warrant issued as part of Operation Can Scam, Attorney General Mike Cox said Wednesday. Some suspects were members of two smuggling rings based in Ohio and others were Michigan merchants who took part in the scheme, he said.

Investigators alleged that millions of non-redeemable out-of-state cans were collected, crushed, packaged in plastic bags and sold at a discount to merchants who then redeemed them. Bulk redemption payments from the state are based on weight.

The scheme defrauded the Michigan Bottle Deposit Fund, whose proceeds are used to pay for environmental cleanup efforts, Cox said in a statement.

"Each year, this type of activity defrauds the state approximately $13 million," said Col. Peter Munoz, Michigan State Police director.

The charges include maintaining a continuing criminal enterprise, a 20-year felony, and fraud, a 5-year felony, the statement said.

The probe recalled a 1996 episode of "Seinfeld" in which two characters learn about Michigan's 10-cent deposit law and head there with a truckload of 5-cent New York cans, hoping to cash in on the difference, before getting sidetracked.

"A half-million in cash is not 'Seinfeld' humor," Cox spokesman Matt Frendewey said.

 

ps-ja sinoć prije spavanja pogledao epizodu #20 sa Yankee Clipperom Joe Di Maggiom...'he's a dunker!'

Ima i dva klipa!

 

...odgledah sinoć prvih par epizoda,i kolikogod to bilo nekima od vas /nas?/ bogohulno,ovo što je Larry sam bez Jerry-a napravio od 2000-2005 jako,ali jaaako,je blizu onoj genijalnoj razini Seinfeldovih vrhunaca

 

osobito mi je drago da je netko prvi put na ovaj fenomenalan Larry-ev način obradio teme bračnog života,možda mi je utoliko i ovaj serijal danas generacijski bliži u odnosu na Seinfeldov 'single 30something -routine' iz 90.ih...?

 

U svakom slučaju,Larry je nedvojbeno sastavni dio i okosnica Svetog trojstva globalnog humora:Woody,Jerry,Larry...pa dugo,duuugo nitko ni blizu

Rudeš - Bosco :