Daily printout: Oct. 8

A Tulsa, OK, man who was trafficking fentanyl and other illicit drugs that he ordered through the U.S. Mail is now in prison, thanks to special agents from the USPS Office of Inspector General and other law enforcement agencies.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents suspected that the 31-year-old was involved in a nationwide drug trafficking ring. When they found that narcotics were being shipped to him through the U.S. Mail, they called OIG special agents for assistance.

After identifying the man’s address, the OIG agents used a proprietary data analytics tool to determine that he had received numerous suspicious parcels from multiple states during a two-month period. He was ordering the drugs — cocaine, ecstasy, hallucinogenic mushrooms and counterfeit painkillers — from an unregulated online marketplace and then selling them throughout northeast Oklahoma.

After OIG agents intercepted a package addressed to the suspect, a K-9 from the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office detected narcotics. The agents obtained a search warrant to open the package and found a vacuum-sealed bag with nearly a pound of methamphetamines.

The agents called in the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to set up a sting operation. Inspectors arrested the man at his home after he received the package.

Digital scales, baggies, $3,600 in cash and two semi-automatic handguns were found at his residence after a search. Investigators also found additional drugs in the pantry in false-bottom containers that held legitimate contents on top but concealed drugs underneath.

The man pled guilty to ordering drugs online and selling them — and to possessing a firearm while trafficking illegal drugs. He was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison.

“We’re proud of the partnerships our special agents have forged with the DEA, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and local and state law enforcement in Oklahoma and across the country,” USPS Inspector General Tammy Hull said. “Joint investigations like these protect the American public by disrupting the criminal misuse of the U.S. Postal Service for drug trafficking.”

The OIG recently highlighted the case on its website.

If you suspect or know of drug trafficking involving Postal Service employees or contractors, report it to the OIG.

The Postal Service dedicated its latest Hanukkah stamp in New Orleans on Sept. 29.

The stamp is the ninth in the series to recognize Hanukkah, an eight-night Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

Also known as the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah is observed by millions in the United States and around the world and is marked by family and tradition.

“Hanukkah is often translated as ‘dedication’ ― a reminder of what it takes to keep traditions strong and communities connected. That’s a mission the Postal Service understands,” said Carrie Rieger Brownlie, the Postal Service’s deputy general counsel, who was the dedicating official.

“That mission matters every day, but it’s especially clear during the holidays. A time when a card or letter can carry love, tradition and memories from one home to another ― even when we’re miles apart,” she said.

Joining Brownlie were master of ceremonies David Hammer, journalist and investigations unit chief for WWL Louisiana; Kevin Wilkins, Touro Synagogue congregation president and CEO of Trepwise consulting; Dodd Loomis, New Orleans Film Society executive director; Katie Bauman, Touro Synagogue’s senior rabbi; and Adrien Genet, Touro’s historian.

The stamp art features a colorful digital illustration of a dreidel by Lisa Perrin.

Antonio Alcalá, an art director for USPS, designed the stamp.

The Forever stamp is available in sheets of 20 at Post Offices nationwide and on usps.com.

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The Postal Service will observe Columbus Day on Monday, Oct. 12.

The holiday’s first observance in the United States took place in New York City in 1792 — the 300th anniversary of the arrival of explorer Christopher Columbus and his crew on an island in what is now the Bahamas.

In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation marking the 400th anniversary as a one-time general holiday. The Chicago World’s Fair — also known as the World’s Columbian Exposition — opened the next year, and the Post Office Department issued its first commemorative stamps celebrating the anniversary.

The Knights of Columbus, a Roman Catholic fraternal order, lobbied for years for the day to be established as a holiday, and many state governments signed on. In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a proclamation designating Oct. 12 as a national holiday.

President Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which went into effect in 1971, established Columbus Day as an official federal holiday and ensured it would always fall on the second Monday in October.

Beginning in the late 1960s, a move began to acknowledge the effects of the colonization on the Native peoples of the Americas that followed Columbus’s voyages. Indigenous Peoples’ Day, also on Oct. 12, is meant as a counterpoint to Columbus Day and celebrates the history, culture and contributions of indigenous peoples.

In many parts of Latin America, Oct. 12 is observed as Dia de la Raza, or “Day of the People,” an observance that simultaneously acknowledges the hardships of European colonization that followed Columbus while celebrating the fusion of cultures that arose from it.

The Library of Congress has more information on Columbus Day, including an online exhibition titled “1492: An Ongoing Voyage.”