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This is a policy that needs urgent review.

A truly strange story happened in Los Angeles, and so far it has come to life like a Michael Mann movie. In March, the FBI raided the bank of a shopping mall in Beverly Hills and confiscated the contents of safes belonging to about 800 people. Except that some things seem to have been arranged sideways in the entire business. From the Los Angeles Times:

Mr. Ruiz seems to make some sense, despite its obvious Californian characteristics.

This willful confiscation is part of the drug "war", and everyone criticized it when both sides pretended to care about criminal justice reform. (We all recalled those 25 minutes fondly.) It is obvious that this particular act of confiscation may ultimately cost the government more than it gained.

There is some evidence that the bank itself is not just a small problem. The FBI and prosecutors did not drop a pin on the map. But then again, they did not fully ignite the landscape to hunt down these criminals.

Of course, the evidence seems a bit strange and well ventilated. This seems to have caused some sharp punctuation in LAT.

Forfeiture is still a policy worth studying, if not at least partially eviscated. And, despite the comical aspects of this case, it is a good example.