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The package began with an investigation into a videotape that showed a police officer of a local anti-drug unit claiming that he had paid witnesses to testify in court to whatever the officer wanted. That led to a series that examined the cases brought by the local drug unit and the practice prosecutors used of plea bargaining in return for cash, automobiles or property owned by the accused. The series also examined the federal funding behind the drug task force and showed how more than 700 other such units operate nationwide with similar pressures to swap cases for seized property in order to provide their funding.