Defense attorneys have been suspicious for some time now that Federal agencies use resources to spy domestically. The attorneys believe that information gained illegally is then turned over to law enforcement. Officers initiate stops which yield large quantities of narcotics.
I guess it depends on your definition of “spying.” Several federal agencies have the power to investigate criminality. They are then free to hand over the intel to local agencies who are then free to stop the car in question. I don’t call that spying.
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#44 I had a co-worker in another dept who had a private plane. He was tracked going from Calif to some eastern state on the weekend. From news accounts I later read online from the eastern state he and a friend unloaded the plane and checked into a motel. The police arrested both for smuggling marijuana. He called me on monday at the Helpdesk and asked to have his password unlocked. His account was disabled. The management must have been informed. He was probably on a list of people the police were tracking.