[PSA/Article] USPS Express Mail used to ship marijuana from Arizona to Michigan gets man six years in prison

Important OPSEC related stuff in bold for emphasis.

Pot-laden parcels mailed to Grand Rapids from Arizona
John Hogan, WZZM 12:36 p.m. EST February 18, 2015

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM) - A West Michigan man who had marijuana shipped here from Arizona using Express Mail will be spending the next six years in federal prison.

For nearly two years, Joe Willie Thompson orchestrated a marijuana conspiracy in which cardboard boxes filled with marijuana were mailed to Grand Rapids from Phoenix, according to federal court documents.

Thompson is among a growing number of West Michigan drug dealers using Priority Mail and Express Mail to receive drugs from out-of-state, notably Arizona, Texas and California.

In the past year, dozens of packages have been intercepted in Grand Rapids containing heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana.

In Brown's case, it was packaged in plain cardboard boxes. Others get more creative. A Zeeland couple had Teddy Bears packed with crystal methamphetamine mailed here from California.

Express Mail and Priority Mail are favored because of speed, reliability and free tracking service. Express Mail offers overnight delivery and Priority Mail has two-day service.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in July indicted Thompson for conspiracy to deliver more than 220 pounds of marijuana. He was arrested in Phoenix.

Thompson in October pleaded guilty to a reduced marijuana delivery charge which is punishable by up to five years in federal prison.

Because of prior felony convictions, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Jonker imposed the six-year term and ordered Thompson to pay a $1,200 fine. He'll also spend four years on supervised release once he gets out of prison.

Postal inspectors sidelined the pot-laden packages for further scrutiny because of several red flags: They were larger and heavier than typical Express Mail parcels, which usually weigh less than eight ounces. Mailing labels were hand-written, unlike typical business mailings that use typed labels.

Delivery fees were paid in cash, rather than through a business account. On one of the packages, the return address came back to a McDonald's restaurant in Avondale, Ariz. The package was destined for a home on Kalamazoo Avenue SE, but the recipient's name didn't match the address.

Postal authorities in recent years have stepped-up investigative work in cities identified as known sources of controlled substances, notably Arizona. In 2012, U.S. postal inspectors and cooperating police agencies made 2,300 drug-related arrests and seized more than $20 million in narcotics.

..."notably Arizona." I'm going to assume Texas is on the list as well, and I know California is.

With regards to the paying in cash instead of through a business account, I wonder if they used the same return address for multiple packages. That may be a problem. Don't use ExpressMail ever for marijuana, and avoid it for illegal stuff altogether if you can help it. Express Mail gets looked at harder than any other category of mail.

Incidentally, here is another story from about a year ago by the same news outlet which is one way we know Calfornia is a known drug mail source state:

Drug traffickers turn to Express & Priority Mail
John Hogan, WZZM 1:51 a.m. EST March 1, 2014

(WZZM) -- The U.S. Postal Service is seeing an uptick in business, but not necessarily in a way it wants.

California drug dealers are using Priority Mail and Express Mail to send narcotics to Michigan. In separate incidents this week, cocaine and marijuana were mailed to people in Muskegon and Wyoming.

A Priority Mail parcel filled with contraband arrived in Grand Rapids Sunday from Los Angeles. It contained 16 ounces of cocaine and a pound of marijuana. The recipient, a convicted drug dealer from Muskegon, was arraigned today in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids on drug trafficking charges.

In an unrelated case, 7.3 ounces of pot was found Wednesday in an Express Mail package addressed to an apartment on Woodward Avenue SW in Wyoming. It was mailed from San Bernardino, Calif.

"We haven't necessarily seen any changes in the mailing of drugs, it's just that more of them are being caught,'' said U.S. Postal Inspector Cecil Frink, who supervises nine inspectors in northern Indiana and West Michigan. "We have more personnel looking into it than we had in the past.

"Most people don't know what we do and we like to keep it that way,'' he added.

In the Muskegon case, police repackaged the cocaine and marijuana and a U.S. postal inspector delivered it to a home on Hoyt Street. The man who took delivery was identified as Kenta Raynard Jones. During a search of his home, police found the Priority Mail package in a closet, a stolen .357 caliber handgun under his mattress and ammunition inside a child's coat.

Drug dealers for years have used Priority Mail and Express Mail to ship narcotics and drug money. Express Mail offers overnight delivery and Priority Mail has two-day service.

Postal inspectors say the two services are popular with drug traffickers because of reliability, free Internet and telephone tracking service and a perception there's a minimal chance of being caught.

Postal authorities in recent years have stepped-up investigative work in cities identified as known sources of controlled substances, notably in California.

In 2012, U.S. postal inspectors and cooperating police agencies made 2,300 drug-related arrests and seized more than $20 million in narcotics.

WARNING SIGNS DRUGS ARE BEING DELIVERED BY MAIL
* Use of fictitious names on mailing and return address labels;
* Weight exceeding 8 pounds for Express Mail;
* Mail going to or coming from a city with known drug trafficking;
* Packages heavily taped;
* ZIP Code from where the package is mailed is different from what's in the return address;
* Parcels mailed from an Automated Postal Center to eliminate contact with postal clerks.


Comments


[14 Points] cashmeres:

Yup. Pretty textbook case of an inexperienced or just stupid vendor. This is why I love our community - I can make sure I never order from idiots that use a handwritten label and overnight shipping on a huge order.


[8 Points] dnmadvocate:

the real thing that is going to win the stupid war is pure quantity. They cant jail or prosecute all us... Back to if each vendor on the DNM alone, not counting all the shit done off markets with your buddies and personal contacts, sends 10 packages/week and multiply they by a few thousand vendors, you need an army of more than a million people to rifle through the mail on a daily basis building cases etc.... Safety in numbers. Should they come a knocking, demand an attorney and shut the fuck up, dont deny nor accept responsibility..... "Sir I dont know whats going on, I think I should get an attorney" and then from there ramp up the attorney demands. "I WANT AN ATTORNEY I HAVE THE RIGHT TO AN ATTORNEY FUCK YOU!!"


[5 Points] throwahooawayyfoe:

THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T ORDER EXPRESS! The USPS states in their shipping guidelines that the only things that should be getting sent via overnight express are important, time-sensitive business documents. If an express pack comes through that has a nice bulge in it, they're going to assume (rightly) that it's not business papers and they're gonna want to have a look. Express is literally the most scrutinized service out of all of them.


[5 Points] valuum:

Using fake return addresses was what got me busted back in 08.

Also shitty shake and bake meth sells for $100 and up a gram, good ice probably nets twice that. He would have made a killing had it gotten through.


[5 Points] None:

[deleted]


[4 Points] delta_eight:

I think that bolded part is EXTREMELY important to both vendors and buyers. Thanks for posting this.

*re-read it, holy shit it's like they literally did everything wrong. I mean they used a McDonalds for the return address!?!?


[3 Points] None:

Is there much difference in terms of expense and risk in getting pounds shipped to you rather than just paying someone a small amount to drive them? for pounds of weed you'd really think they'd get their own courier


[3 Points] hashmon:

Sending Priority is the way to go. We send a pound or under only, and we've gotten hundreds of packages through in a row with no misses, even though we handwrite the address. I think they're looking for big ones and eyeing Express.


[2 Points] None:

[deleted]


[2 Points] theseeker01:

Don't ever even order from a vendor that EVEN OFFERS express. Fairly decent chance they're being profiled.