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Nah. Cops and prosecutors want the big fish, not the little fishes. The little fishes will always exist, but the harder and more expensive it is to build a place for them to get together, the less likely it is that they'll find places to make their illegal transactions. (Not to mention that big fish make for splashier prosecutions and faster promotions. DAs build a platform from which they can spring into a political career from by nailing big names, not nobodies.)

It's the same reason why they offer plea bargains to low-level drug dealers if they'll give up the people above them in the supply chain: it does more damage to the overall network to take out the one person it all hinges on than to take out lots of people out at the fringes. The network has to reconstitute itself, which is slow and expensive.



"Not to mention that big fish make for splashier prosecutions and faster promotions."

You hit the nail on the head there. Nabbing the "Dread Pirate Roberts" is definitely a career making move for any moderately ambitious investigator or district attorney.




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