GOING POSTAL OVER POT

     I never understood why people would mess with mail. It's a federal offense for crying out loud. I did a two-year stint as a temporary letter carrier when I couldn't find another job in radio. Most of the letter carriers that I worked with were very cool, but there were some who walked around with a chip on their shoulders. Why? Because you've been there for more than 20 years on the same route? How is that my problem? These were the carriers that I just stayed away from because they weren't helpful and they seemed kind of shady, which brings me to today's story. 

     So, eight postal workers were busted on Wednesday for stealing packages stuffed with marijuana from a Long Island mail processing center. My guess? These were the guys with chips on their shoulders. Investigators began focusing on the postal facility in Bethpage this past July after three Priority Mail packages were found in the backyard of an abandoned house in North Babylon and a drug-sniffing dog confirmed the odor of marijuana on the three packages. It was later determined that the packages had been sorted and processed at the Bethpage facility, and after a review of the surveillance video, it showed a postal worker sneaking out a fire escape door carrying large packages like the ones found discarded in the backyard. After taking a look at the facility's video going back to May 3, the postal worker and his co-conspirators allegedly stole 263 packages suspected of containing narcotics from the processing center. After stealing the packages the employees would put new address labels on them in a process called "overlabeling," so they can be delivered to new destinations in Long Island and Queens where the drugs can be sold. 

     The Postal Service can't be that dumb. This was obviously a racket. The plan was drummed up by someone outside the organization who knew they had a friend who worked for the Postal Service. That postal worker got a few friends involved (fellow workers with a chip on their shoulder), who needed some extra cash, and the deal was on. The drug source would send the packages to fake address, obviously. The crew at the post office was notified of the fake address to look for. Once the package was found, they would "overlabel" the address to the correct address once the package was sorted and passed through by them. It's the perfect crime....Or was it?

     Brooklyn U.S. Attorney, Lorretta Lynch said, "Abusing their positions of trust as postal employees, the defendants allegedly stole hundreds of packages to further their drug dealing efforts. " A U.S. Postal Service special agent stated, "United States Priority Mail parcels have become the method of choice for drug dealers for the covert transportation and distribution of controlled substances including marijuana."

     The feds executed search warrants on a dozen "overlabeled" packages, seizing 129 pounds of pot valued at up to $930,000. Is it me or is it hot in here? Wow! I wonder what happened to it? Did they burn it? Is it sitting in some room somewhere? Am I asking too many questions? The postal workers who took part in this racket were charged with theft and drug conspiracy. All men from Long Island, Brooklyn and Queens. All I can say is that as a former postal worker, this took some big cojones to try to pull off and the fact that they got away with stealing at least 263 packages; these guys made their money and then some in the past few months.