Profiling postal packages.

[Julian]

Don't bother.....he's just trolling......and has no interest in facts or reason....

Anyone who states they have a superior command over a subject but doesn't know the basics?.....well......says it all......

Of interest to people who do prefer facts:
Most manufacturers will state their OTR's drop to essentially nonexistent when below freezing....and if one is aware of the process......you are packing for the dogs..(of course not if private....since they can open anywhere, anytime, for any reason....)

It's usually obvious when someone hasn't read thread or anything in it and posts .....and even worse when someone posts stating aware of all within, but then their posts clearly display unaware of anything discussed ...

 

[MR_P]

Well I've just been skimming through this thread, so forgive me if I don't know exactly whats going on or the current topic.

But until very very recently, I have worked at a major sorting faciltiy for over two years. I won't say what company or where, just that it is one of the major private shipping companies your very familiar with. Now I was just a basic no-name sorter, working everyday, doing my job. So I honestly can't say what qualifies a package as "suspicous", but maybe I can offer some tips and just tell you some of the things I've seen while working.


First off, if it is coming from another country it goes though a customs check point. Even though where I worked was a private company, there was a customs/home land security checkpoint that incoming packages went through (idk if it was all packages, but a lot). I only worked in that area once, and we were just unloading A containers on to a belt.... I wish I could offer a little more insight in to what the customs people actually did, but I usually just walked past that area on the way to my own....

But I remember a lot of times a package would come down the slide with a sticker saying "Checked by US Customs", or some times "X-Rayed by US Customs". Now how your supposed to get past an X-ray I don't know, but if your gonna send something though the mail, maybe you should keep in mind it might not be a dog, but an x-ray looking at your package. Not that they didn't have dogs.....

Further more, I don't think they really had a process of identifying "suspicous" packages, at least not that I saw (keep in my mind i'm in the "middle"). I dunno, those packages with the customs stickers seemed like pretty ordinary packages to me... I think a lot of it is just random... I mean obviously, if your package reeks like weed, you should know what to expect..... The part where i think this whole profiling thing is really an issue is at the begining when you hand your package off to get shipped and when you pick it up. Once it is in the system, it's just another package. Where I worked, on the average night shift, around 300,000 pakcages went through the system. And on the day shift it was a little less like 150,000 - 200,000. So we are talking like 500,000 individual packages going through every day.

I gotta say though, if your in the package system in any way Christmas is CRAZY! We usually measured how a nights work would be by the system weight. So like an ordinary night would have 3 million pounds, during Christmas time the volume essentiallly doubles.

No one stopped to so much as look at the name on the label, you really didn't have time.

If your package is going to get profiled it is probably when you hand it to the teller to ship it.... Like I said, once it was in the system, it's just another box. And we had EVREYTHING going through that place. Tires, live animals, hazardous materials, boxes full of bolts, boxes with foods like coffee and candy in them. Little wooden boxes that were only a foot long and wide yet weighed 150 pounds, and gigantic boxes you could pick up with one hand.... If your gonna get caught, it's probably because the person accepting or handing your package to you finds YOU suspicous, not your package.


As far as packaging goes, it's common sense people!!!!! One thing I could not believe is just how many people sent packages that were not prepared to survive the whole process. I remember when I first started working we were at the extendo belt. Basically people would unload packages out of a truck where they would go down a slide where two more people would sort the packages on to the appropriate belt. But if a package was a non-conveyable or broke open, they would put it on a different belt that ran behind the slide (the extendo belt) where I was working. If the package was a non-con (over 70 pounds) it would be stacked on a skid and sent to a diffrent area.

If it was broke open, and all we had to do was tape it, thats what we did, tape and throw it on the belt. If it was really crushed, it would get sent to "re-wrap" where they would slap allot of tape on it. If the box was in reeeeaaalllly bad shape, they will take the contents out and put it in a new box.....

Any ways, me and my friend were working this extendo belt one day. Well my friend looks down on the belt, and sitting there wrapped in bubble wrap is a brand new glass bowl. There wasn't even a box w/ it, just a bowl sitting on the conveyor belt.

That was the only time I ever personally saw anything drug related. But the same friend was loading an A container one day, and threw like a 60 pound box in to this container, the package busts open, and like a dozen bowls just pop out of it. So its a freaking 60 pound box full of bowls. I mean if your gonna send shit like that through, at least put some damn tape on it so it doesn't bust open!!!!! What will probably happen is that some lucky stoner is going to go home with a dozen bowls stuffed in his jacket, and your gonna get your package with a dozen bowls less, if at all. God only knows if something like that happened with actual weed, you can bet for sure your weed won't get to you (depending who finds it I guess, maybe it will and not in a good way).

I guess you should prepare your package with the thought that it might get broke open in shipment. So put it in something that's not going to attract attention if it has to be re wraped.

Sometimes though, you can package it to survive a nuclear war and that's still not good enough. You don't know how many boxes I saw get run over by a forklift or tug. Some times, they would get rained on. Sometimes your little box just happens to have a 200 pound box stacked on top of it, and your package just got FLATTENED. When your handling millions packages, shit happens, that's the way it works.

Eh, I typed a lot here (at least it feels that way in my fingers, lol). I'm sure I could find some more to say, but I can't think of it right this second. Maybe I'll have something to say later....

And I only have some experience where I worked, couldn't tell ya how USPS does it. It's probably not the same, but similar.

^^^^ Those are just some thoughts from working at a place like this....

My honest opinion is: There are SOOOOOOO many things that are out of your hands if you mail drugs. The fact is that there IS a customs and they ARE trying to find things just like this.... I think it's probabiltiy. Every time you do it, it's a chance. Sure, maybe only 1 out of every 50 packages with drugs are found or less. But if that 1 package happens to be yours, good luck!

 

[Julian]

Here's a fun one....

Can anyone tell me exactly how many are trained on parcel interdiction (and/or assigned) by:

USPS
UPS
DHL
FedEx
Airborne

(Not including city, county, state, joint task force, and federal parcel interdiction units operating in every major city and in every state in the country.....we can get to that later....)

 

[Julian]

Someone sent me this one in response to the above.......

Sorry, it's old.....manpower dedicated is 10 times now if not more....(hundreds of city, county, state units formed since then.........)

We have people doubting the very existence and practices of the industry (yes, industry.........10's of thousands of people employed for the sole purpose of parcel interdiction) of parcel interdiction when essentially entire thread not only documents such....but their training criteria, cases, appeals, law enforcement training texts, and more.......

The contemplation of anything otherwise from anyone claiming expertise is, well......decide for yourself.....

A shame most ignoring all links......might learn something

 

[McSnappler]

Great thread, very interesting. Props to the OP and Julian.

 

[whodi]

Good information, keep it coming.

I noticed on the 1st post of this thread, it lists criteria for profilnig, near the bottom of the post.

It says * Has been sent from an individual to an individual

what does this have to do with anything? People send stuff to other people all the time.

 

[Julian]

I think if one takes the time to read all contained, it's all self explanatory.

 

[whodi]

Well enlighten me, oh wise one.

I've read through a lot of this.. maybe i'm missing something.

sending from one person to another person is perfectly normal and very common. I'm not talking about individuals from drug cities/states with weird names, etc.. It clearly mentioned all of that for profiling, but in addition to that, it mentioned sending from individual to individual. I don't get what that has to do with anything.

To me, what they are saying is that it's a red alert if you send from an individual to another individual.....makes no sense... jules... none...at..all..
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[Julian]

Your attempting to summarize in by only addressing a single aspect. (and not thoroughly at that)

Maybe try reading all instead of a portion. It is all self explanatory. (I know you haven't, because you wouldn't be asking if you did )

There is nothing above not addressed and covered extensively.....links probably cumulative 2-300 pages.

 

[Dr. Smokepuma]

Actually met every criteria mentioned, and, easy to miss while looking through was one of 30 cases made on single incoming.....(35 pulled, 30 dirty. Single effort, single morning, single team, single location. 30)

yep i have a friend that works for the post office.
everyone thinks they half assed . thats not so..
on cops they just showed exactly what your talking about.. the drop the wait they name the inspector the raid .. your right on the money with the list of red flags they went down the list verbally

 

[Dr. Smokepuma]

well to think they haven't beefed up the postal service inspectors and the private shippers is to be foolish with the big bro getting into every aspect of ours lives. remember the white powder that was sent throgh the mail..beefed up..one thing people are forgetting the cops federal goverment they have all the time in the world they can wait to bust you.they have the money manpower and everything to get as much as they can about everything you do they just wait people feel safe then thats when it happen.

 

[whodi]

yep i have a friend that works for the post office.
everyone thinks they half assed . thats not so..
on cops they just showed exactly what your talking about.. the drop the wait they name the inspector the raid .. your right on the money with the list of red flags they went down the list verbally

the episode smoke is talking about is on hulu if you all wanna watch and care to comment on it. I don't quite understand what went wrong except the guy who accepted the package wasn't the name on the box, and nobody lived at that residence with the name on that box. THat alone has been discussed on this thread; and is a red flag in itself.

As to what exactly went wrong and why the guy on the porch offered that guy $40 for bringing the package to him is beyond me..

you can watch the episode here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/58414/cops-cops-neighborhood-busts

 

[crankndapot]

"Has been sent from an individual to an individual"

how does that fit the criteria for inspection?

 

[Dr. Smokepuma]

"Has been sent from an individual to an individual"

how does that fit the criteria for inspection?

the overnight thing..oversized box.. most overnight is a bizz and its most of the time paperwork that is bing sent

 

[deltronZER0]

so julian, I don't know if you've left this thread for dead, but whats your opinion on shipping non-commercial amounts?
like shipping an eighth or 5 cross country?
you said its always the small guys who get popped, but were you talking 1#< and <100#?
or were you talking about the little non commercial dudes?

 

[Molson]

whats your opinion on shipping non-commercial amounts?
like shipping an eighth or 5 cross country?

Seeds?...not a problem.......z's or less?......not really an issue.....q'pers?....still not bad.......1/2's-p's?....starting to be an issue......p's or more?.....really starting to be a serious problem and not worth the risk.....

If doing smaller......greater the chances it won't be persued, and, as above, fake names and addresses in some (many) cases the reason it might get stopped...might assist in reasonable suspicion...

Sending an oz west to east is no problem if packaged correctly....

 

[deltronZER0]

i feel like most stoners just say, throw it in a jar of peanut butter, but i feel like most inspectors would know whats up with a single jar of peanut butter being shipped
last time i shipped i just threw it in a smelly proof brand bag and inbetween the pages of a magazine in a flat package, is that discreet enough or no?

 

[Dr. Smokepuma]

i feel like most stoners just say, throw it in a jar of peanut butter, but i feel like most inspectors would know whats up with a single jar of peanut butter being shipped
last time i shipped i just threw it in a smelly proof brand bag and inbetween the pages of a magazine in a flat package, is that discreet enough or no?

exactumundo..they expect people to do the Pbutter and other old schools stuff they have come along way and have a big budget.. with lots of highfives when people get sloppy

 

[Molson]

i feel like most stoners just say, throw it in a jar of peanut butter, but i feel like most inspectors would know whats up with a single jar of peanut butter being shipped
last time i shipped i just threw it in a smelly proof brand bag and inbetween the pages of a magazine in a flat package, is that discreet enough or no?

First of all, trying to mask the smell of weed with other things (honey, peanut butter, coffee grounds) won't fool a drug K9.

Though food items (among other things) west to east w/ an oz thrown in (vacuum sealed of course) has worked. Just a simple 'care package' from a friend to another friend at college. Niggas gotta eat. Feel me?

I'd feel much safer using a vacuum sealer than say 3 'smelly proof' freezer bags though. Even if it is small amounts.

Just found this btw, on the topic of trying to hide it inside peanut butter. Dogs still hit on it.

…the package was then presented to a certified drug detection canine at the Air Mail Facility who alerted in a positive manner to the odor of a controlled substance…Within the package, the inspectors found a sealed can of jalapeno peppers. Within the can, they found three packets containing approximately three pounds of methamphetamine…

http://www.nebar.com/pdfs/DCOpinPDFs/8-99cr16.pdf

Then again, I guess, if they packed the jar full of meth, got their hands 'dirty', then finished packing the thing, that could have affected it...

 

[deltronZER0]

molson, any suggestions on packing tips, besides vacum sealer?
and what would be a good alternative to a v. sealer?