CanPost weeds out drugs
Mail workers getting sharp at detecting illegal shipments
By KATHLEEN HARRIS, NATIONAL BUREAU CHIEF
OTTAWA -- The pot's in the post.
Canada's
mail service has intercepted hundreds of illicit shipments of drugs, booze, weapons and cigarettes in the last 16 months, nabbing everything from Ecstasy en route to Happy Valley, Nfld., to magic mushrooms and marijuana bound for the west.
Documents obtained by Sun Media under Access to Information show Canada Post inspectors discovered crack cocaine, knockoff Gucci bags and bottles of rum, whisky and vodka stuffed into parcels and illegally sent in the
mail between January 2007 and May 2008.
Nicole Lemire, spokeswoman for Canada Post, said employees are well-trained to detect contraband goods, using a variety of methods to spot dangerous and non-mailable items. But she would not divulge specifics.
MUM ON SPECIFICS
"It would be like telling people the combination to your safe, and the more people you tell the less effective it becomes," she said.
Inspectors are always on the look-out for such things as traces of powder, a leaking substance or a certain odour. The lack of a return address or an incomplete recipient's address also raises eyebrows, she said.
"When suspicions do arise, we work with appropriate authorities," she said.
Non-mailable items include tobacco, firearms, perishable goods, animals, plants and material considered obscene.
According to the lists obtained by Sun Media, packages with illicit items have been destined for big cities and small towns from coast to coast. Shipment sizes range from a few joints or bottles of booze to a large-scale drug haul worth $1 million.
But the most common illicit shipments contain pot.
Pot activist and Cannabis Culture magazine publisher Marc Emery believes the seized stashes represent a tiny part of the weed moving through the postal service.
He said many Canada Post employees turn a blind eye to the contents, while senders are getting more clever about how to disguise the weed.
"I think the amount of marijuana going through the
mail is dramatically higher than it ever has been," he said.
Unless they are a legal supplier of medicinal marijuana, senders usually use bogus return addresses and store the goods in plastic containers and vacuum sealing to elude detection. Canada Post is the transport mode of choice, since courier companies require signatures, Emery said.
"Unless you really believe your legal rights can be upheld in court, you should avoid signing anything," he said. "Once you start signing things, you are leaving a paper trail from who's sending it and receiving it."
APPROVAL NEEDED
Canada Post does not carry out routine inspections and can not open any package without the approval of a senior postal inspector. Suspect packages removed from the normal
mail stream are sent to one of two "undeliverable
mail offices" in Toronto or Nova Scotia, while illegal items are turned over to police.
On one on-line forum, writers trade tips on how to safely disguise weed in the
mail, including wrapping in duct tape then sprinkling in powder and dipping in candle wax. Another recommends packing in coffee beans to mask the smell of marijuana.
Lawyer Eugene Oscapella said some people likely choose
mail because it's cheaper and easier than other methods like personal delivery or hiring mules.
"People use many methods of transporting drugs, and there's no reason to think people wouldn't
mail it," he said.
http://www.torontosun.com/News/Canada/2008/07/04/6061696-sun.html