Chief George, who had been played for a fool, glared at the smiling Beckett. He let out an angry snort and said, "How did so many dangerous goods get in here? Are Customs and the Coast Guard completely useless?"
As he spoke, Chief George realized that his anger was a little unreasonable. How could someone capable of buying "decommissioned equipment" from U.S. military forces stationed overseas not have some influence?
Smuggling was impossible to stamp out completely, especially with a deepwater port in Hell's Kitchen, even if it wasn't in the best location.
Besides, arresting Alexei wasn't realistic either. The Russian Rhinoceros had acquired the equipment legally. Buying the United States' decommissioned overseas equipment helped ease the burden on the military.
On paper, all that stuff was decommissioned scrap metal. Was recycling garbage against the law?
Judging by how brazenly Alexei was hawking it around, maybe the guy wasn't smuggling at all. Perhaps he was simply declaring it and paying taxes under the label of scrap metal...
And don't think that's unbelievable. The gangsters' Legal Teams could find loopholes in the law and take care of things like that.
Everything had been legally imported, except the vehicles couldn't be registered. Now...
Chief George, who had been put in an awkward position by Castle, snorted angrily and said, "If they're that cheap, have him give me a few dozen pieces of scrap, too. Ten thousand apiece, not a cent more..."
Just as Alvin was about to comfort Chief George, who'd been thoroughly rattled, a voice cut in...
"What do you mean, ten thousand? We'll donate them. A hundred to start. If that's not enough, we can talk about more..."
At the sound of a deep, booming voice, Alexei—tall and muscular, with a horn atop his head—walked into the Police Station lobby