[dpatru]

> I think I disagree with you and find it even more ludicrous that the antagonist actually wants to incarcerate people. To what end?

The point is not to incarcerate people, but rather to gain leverage by being able to credibly threaten incarceration. This is standard operating procedure for prosecutors and police when dealing with confidential informants in drug cases. It's not such a stretch to think it may also happen in other cases.