Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 28 Working
Milton took a deep breath to calm himself down and then asked, "Let me explain... Why is it that new drugs that haven't been released to the market or mass-produced yet are cheaper than older drugs?"

The question was so simple that Brandon could answer it: "Because... the ultimate goal of pharmaceutical companies is to collect various data on new drugs, so they give subsidies to the 'charities' that do the dirty work for them?"

With subsidies, prices can naturally be cheaper.

Pharmaceutical companies typically do not conduct experiments that are clearly illegal and violate humanitarian principles themselves. Instead, they subcontract the data collection task to several different contractors.

For example, the Qing Teng Foundation is one of them.

This way, even if something goes wrong, the pharmaceutical company can shift the blame without affecting experiments in other places.

The pharmaceutical company only needs the experimental data and is willing to provide a batch of drugs and a sum of money. How the Qing Teng Foundation, which has been given the task, obtains the experimental data is their own business.

In order to maximize profits, Qing Teng Fund will naturally try to realize the value of this batch of drugs it received—regardless of the price, it is normal to put a price on the market and sell it to make money.

Milton nodded: "Yes, so they don't actually do much cost accounting for the drugs themselves. They just lower the price to increase competitiveness, sell as many as they can, and give away the ones they can't sell for free or sponsor hospitals... because any extra money is their profit."

Brandon suddenly realized: "Yes... their main goal is actually to trick people into taking the drug and then obtain their data after taking it! Ensuring the safety of this process is the most important thing."

Not too stupid.

They grasped the most crucial point: "safety".

Through this clue, Milton was able to confirm that getting involved would only involve the Green Vine Foundation, a dirty ally, and would not lead to directly provoking the American pharmaceutical conglomerate, thus avoiding creating an enemy that he could not currently contend with.

Milton cleared his head and continued, "Now we come to the second chain of clues. Let me ask you again, if they don't use the checkpoint smuggling route, how do they smuggle goods?"

“It must be air freight.” Brandon said without hesitation. “Sea freight smuggling takes a long time, is risky, requires bribing many people, and is more likely to be exposed… If we don’t go through customs and rely on speedboats, the risk of loss of the goods is extremely high.”

However, Milton waved his index finger back and forth, denying his statement: "No, I don't think there will be any legal problems in the United States no matter which route they choose. There's no need to be secretive, so the mode of transportation doesn't matter. It's legal no matter how they transport it."

Milton continued calmly, "US border control is relatively strict, with severe penalties and high risks, so the Qing Teng Foundation probably wouldn't risk switching the medicine bottles within the United States."

“Within the United States, as long as the procedures are completed, it is entirely legal to export a batch of experimental drugs, and to openly and legitimately transport them onto a plane or cargo ship to send them out of the country.”

"Of course, the longer this dirty work takes, the more people handle it, and the greater the risk, so I also tend to think they would use air freight, but that's not important."

After the drugs are transported here, since it is illegal to directly and legally sell unlisted drugs, and deceptive drug trials to the public are also illegal, it is necessary to repackage the drugs and bribe relevant personnel to conceal them.

From a risk perspective, it is impossible for the foundation to complete the drug repackaging in the United States, risking being investigated once in the United States and then taking the same risk abroad.

In other words, the medicine bottles must have been repackaged in Guatemala!

At this point, even the slow-witted Brandon knew what Milton was trying to say.

"So, the switching of the medicine bottles was done here?! If we can find this switching location, we can directly secure evidence and catch the perpetrators red-handed without even conducting chemical analysis of the medicine?!"

All the clues have now connected!

Milton nodded slightly. "That's right." Brandon clenched his fist and leaned forward. "The nearest airport is Quetzaltenango International Airport, a four-hour drive away. But it's a big city, and it's not in our province. How are we going to find their medicine bottle repackaging location?"

"What if they choose shipping? How will the port authorities investigate? The distance is too great!"

Brandon spoke rapidly. He hadn't expected that the "Hell Tax Collector" in front of him would actually find useful information from the messy clues in the investigation and ledgers of "Green Leaf Street"!
However, this investigation seems to be very difficult!

Having finally found a clue, Brandon didn't want to let the opportunity slip away.

“You mentioned big cities, which means more people, more police, relative peace, and higher incomes,” Milton said. “Trying to bribe the people there, or the big hospitals, is too costly.”

"Moreover, not everyone can be bribed. You know, even in places like Mexico, there are still police officers who persist in fighting drugs... The more abundant the police force, the higher the chance of encountering such officers or even high-ranking officials."

"For safety and cost reasons, they will most likely keep the goods legal in big cities, leave them openly, and then disassemble, repackage, and put them on the market in their territory."

"And the facts prove my point—an inspector disappeared right here... What do you think she discovered that would make the Foundation go to such great lengths and risk so much to make her vanish?"

"It must be evidence strong enough to completely destroy them!"

After Milton finished speaking, he gave his assessment: "Based on reasonable deduction and current clues, this medicine refill point is located in Malacan town! Perhaps, right under our noses!"

Awe flashed in Brandon's eyes once again. He stood up, as if he truly regarded Milton as his superior and leader, rather than the gang's "boss".

His analytical skills, composure, and even fighting prowess are truly awe-inspiring.

"Where should we go? Is it too late? This Green Vine Foundation seems to have been operating here for quite some time now."

“Since the female prosecutor disappeared recently, it means the evidence is still there, and there’s still time,” Milton replied calmly. “But… they’ve discovered that someone is investigating them, and they may have already started destroying the evidence.”

Brandon immediately panicked: "Then, what do we do? What if they really succeed? If this evidence is destroyed, we won't be able to get our hands on it anymore."

Just as Milton said, they can only catch someone red-handed on the spot... If it gets to the stage of chemically testing the drug's ingredients, they're completely finished!

The police chiefs, hospital officials, and checkpoint staff with a mole inside would definitely collude to manipulate the chemical test report.

In that case, Milton and his gang will be the ones breaking the law!
They all maintain their official status and retain certain law enforcement powers by claiming to be "heroes who take down gangsters," thus preventing checkpoints and police stations from engaging in underhanded tactics.

But once they find a pretext to dismiss them and lose their "legitimate" status, they will be swiftly and decisively crushed!
Milton stood up and carefully wiped M29, his tone calm: "No... The dirtier the work, the fewer people need to be involved, otherwise it's too easy to be exposed, especially in a small place like Malakan. And with so few people, changing so many medicines and handling so many medicine bottles will inevitably take some time."

"We have a little time... but not much time, maybe two more days, three at most."

"Call Luz, grab your weapons, and get ready to collect taxes."

At this moment, Milton seemed to transform from a detective back into the cold-blooded tax collector who had killed 11 assassins!

(End of this chapter)