AS ALWAYS, LIFE IMITATES SEINFELD: 11 arrested in California in multi-state bottles and cans recycling scheme.

SAN FRANCISCO — Authorities have arrested 11 suspects they say ran a multi-state recycling fraud operation that smuggled empty cans and bottles into California in a scheme that cost the state’s recycling fund more than $2 million, state officials said Monday.

The suspects allegedly brought cans and bottles from Arizona and Nevada into Los Angeles-area recycling centers to illegally redeem deposits. It’s illegal because consumers in Nevada and Arizona do not pay the 5- or 10-cent California redemption value deposit, so those containers are not eligible for refunds.

Undercover footage of the perpetrators planning their nefarious crime: