“The FBI gave its informants permission to break the law at least 5,658 times in a single year. Agents authorized 15 crimes a day, on average, including everything from buying and selling illegal drugs to bribing government officials and plotting robberies. FBI officials have said in the past that permitting their informants — who are often criminals themselves — to break the law is an indispensable, if sometimes distasteful, part of investigating criminal organizations. USA TODAY asked the FBI for all of the reports it had prepared since 2006, but FBI officials said they could locate only one, which they released after redacting nearly all of the details.”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/04/fbi-informant-crimes-report/2613305/