The IG said there is a focus in areas including Arizona, California, Florida, Puerto Rico and Texas and in large metro areas such as Chicago, New York and Philadelphia. Image: Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock.com
Criminal organizations are working to recruit USPS employees to participate in schemes including drug smuggling and stealing items from the mail, an inspector general report has said.
“Given their access to the Postal Service’s extensive delivery network, postal employees have become prime targets for drug trafficking organizations (DTOs),” says the IG’s semi-annual report. “Recent trends indicate DTOs are increasing their use of technology and taking advantage of the dark web, cryptocurrency, encrypted messaging services, and online platforms such as social media. They use these means to not only traffic narcotics, but also to recruit and pay postal employees — all while concealing their identities and leaving behind even more covert electronic trails.”
The IG said it is working with agencies including the DEA and the Postal Inspection Service to detect such schemes, with a special focus in areas including Arizona, California, Florida, Puerto Rico and Texas and in large metro areas such as Chicago, New York and Philadelphia. It cited the recent conviction of two now-former postal employees whom an organization had “recruited and bribed” to divert parcels from the mail stream.
The report said IG investigators are using techniques including data analytics “to focus on postal employees who steal from the mail, with a growing emphasis on external criminal organizations that target, recruit, and collude with them to steal valuables and items like checks and credit cards.”
“Through the leads developed by the OIG, numerous internal mail theft investigations were concluded during this reporting period. In all these instances, postal employees abused their positions to steal checks from the mail for personal financial gain. In some cases, employees colluded with external actors to facilitate their criminal schemes,” it said.
It added that in some cases employees have acted on their own or only with other postal employees, citing a case in which seven employees confessed to opening parcels in search of drugs. “Such activities endanger not only the profiler in the plant, but also innocent mail carriers to whose delivery routes the targeted parcels are destined, as the intended recipients sometimes retaliate against them,” it said.
It similarly cited the conviction of an employee “who worked alone to steal and cash” nearly 420 checks.
OPM Guidance Addresses Pay Issues arising During, After Shutdown
Financial Impact of Shutdown Starts to Hit Home; WH Threatens No Back Pay
Threat of RIFs Hangs Over Federal Workforce as Shutdown Continues
Surge of Retirement Applications Is in the Pipeline, Says OPM
OPM Advises Agencies on Conducting RIFs During Shutdown
Shutdown Stalls Hegseth’s Reforms on Two Fronts as Pentagon Accelerates Cuts
See also,
5 Steps to Protect Your Federal Job During the Shutdown
Over 30K TSP Accounts Have Crossed the Million Mark in 2025
The Best Ages for Federal Employees to Retire