First, the agency brought in "suspects" accused of committing some sort of violations.
The charges had been filed after "enforcement" officers had come onto the suspects’ property. The allegations were mostly based on an "authorization" letter the suspects didn’t even think they needed. But the charges carried stiff penalties, and heavy fines. So the suspects had reason to feel vulnerable — and afraid for their livelihood.
When interrogated, however, a number of suspects learned the enforcers had another mission. Investigators told the suspects they’d go easier on them if they gave up some "dirt" on the real target of this witch hunt — the marketplace where the suspects sold their wares. The goal was to shut down the market. And the case doesn’t even go to a real court, but into a legal system where "judges" work in cahoots with the enforcers’ own agency. Just for good measure, a judge under documented investigation for basing decisions on politics, more than evidence, is handling the case,
All of that may sound like a dark episode of "24" or a rerun of "Alias" — or, worse, like some sinister foreign dictatorship.