A retail clerk in Puerto Rico is in prison for stealing packages containing cocaine from the mailstream and selling them.
FBI agents uncovered the scheme in which the clerk set aside certain packages and handed them off to an associate.
Agents contacted the USPS Office of Inspector General, or OIG, and set up a sting at the employee’s Post Office.
Investigators saw the clerk remove a Priority Mail package from his station and set it aside. He later handed the package to a man who arrived at a service door to pick it up.
Investigators intercepted the package with the help of a K-9 officer, and FBI agents found that it contained two bricks of cocaine weighing more than 2 kilograms.
FBI and OIG special agents later arrested the clerk, who admitted he had been profiling, diverting and selling illegal packages for some time.
He pleaded guilty to three counts including possession with intent to distribute cocaine. A federal judge sentenced him to 2 1/2 years in prison plus four years of supervised release.
“Violating the trust America places in the mail by using it to move and sell narcotics isn’t just illegal — it puts lives at risk,” USPS Inspector General Tammy Hull said. “The Postal Service OIG will continue working with its law enforcement partners to aggressively combat this type of drug trafficking to keep America safe.”
The OIG recently highlighted this case on its website.
If you know of narcotics trafficking involving USPS employees or contractors, report it to the OIG.
