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Kramer and Newman couldn't make it work, but crooks in Ohio and Michigan can. Michigan police officers have busted a crime ring that transports and sells out-of-state, non-redeemable cans and turns them in for that sweet, sweet 10 cent payoff. The 13 crooks were arrested with $500,000 in cash. That's...a lot of cans.
The 67-count warrant was a part of Operation Can Scam that busted two smuggling rings based in Ohio and Michigan. Investigators allege that the scheme collected, crushed, packaged, and transported millions of cans, and then sold them at a discount to merchants who cashed them in. (The state redeems bulk cans by weight).
"Each year, this type of activity defrauds the state approximately $13 million," said Col. Peter Munoz, Michigan State Police director. "A half-million in cash is not 'Seinfeld' humor," an Attorney General spokesperson said, and he is right: It is not humorous. It is amazing.
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i want in on the crushed can biz!
So if i buy a soda in IL, and then drive to our place in MI, I can't turn that bottle in for a deposit? i honestly had no idea.
Apparently not. Then you're a criminal.
When I lived outside of Detroilet I had to deal with this crap. When you buy a case of whatever you pay 10 cents per can/bottle. So everything is $2.40 more. Then when you get sick of the smell, or need some extra cash, you take your uncrushed cans to any grocery store and insert them into a machine 1 by 1. The machine reads the barcode on the cans to verify them, hence no crushing allowed. After you're done you get a receipt, up to $20 or $25, all you can cash in per day. So these guys got in trouble because they didn't pay the 10 cents per, prior to bringing back cans.
I will say it was really really rare to see a can or bottle on the streets or gutters or wherever.
They should have this in Chicago, it would give homeless people something to do. In Detroit, you see bums digging through garbage for cans all the time.
And a guy they interviewed in Lansing claimed to make $50K a year doing this full time. Apparently he hit the lecture halls of Michigan State after classes, where people left their cans out specifically for him.