Welfare cheats. Who ever would have guessed that welfare recipients weren’t the mythical hard working poor? I’m shocked.
It would be interesting to know why they were sending the fraud goods to Liberia. (reporting is poor now days, if done at all) Are they here on visas? Legal citizens? Can they be deported?
Although I deplore the practice and actually have first hand detailed involvement with shipments of stuff to Liberia, I wonder if the man charged broke the law. It would seem the welfare cheat was the card holder that sold the card at a discount for cash.
My experience is with multiple ad hoc groups that gather stuff to ship “home” to relatives in Liberia. They have come to America where they congregate in small communities. Many (most?) are refugees. They fled the civil war in Liberia and came here. They are Christian. I was told the conflict was not religious, ie Moslem/Christian but rich,city/poor country.
They have jobs and seem hard working. They collect stuff we discard, bundle it up in plastic bags or barrels and fill a 40 ‘ container. They are fond of old Toyota pickups, garage sale clothing, used bicycles, used mattresses, used shoes, and used tires. Mixed in with the other stuff are Walmart Value Line food items.
All of the used stuff is easily come by at garage sales for cheap. It is better to buy stuff for little or nothing that can be sold in Liberia for far more than the cash value here. That is, rather than send home money, it is better to send home stuff.
The problem is that it became a collasal pain in the ass for the Liberian government. When large quantities are imported duties must be charged. The exporters can gather and load the stuff but can’t do the detailed paperwork required to conform to the Liberian import regulations and duty determination. The result is a government crack down that results in large financial loss.
Thus, the fad is petering out. It was a good idea in theory but very hard in practice. At the root though was the ability to identify an arbitrage market for used stuff, go to work gathering and shipping.
The American Black truck drivers are dumbfonded by the hard working, untelligable jabbering of unidentifiable young people. They dress white, but are very very black. The young men don’t look or act like young American blacks. Their radio was tuned to conservative talk.