Ahead of the holidays, federal agencies are combatting postal crimes.
On Friday, the US Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Federal Bureau of Investigation spoke at a news conference in Tampa about the effort to protect postal carriers and keep mail secure.
Robberies of postal carriers have increased nationwide in recent years. In fiscal year 2022, 15 robberies were reported in the Orlando area, according to data provided by the USPIS. It’s a fraction of the 412 USPS letter carriers who were robbed on the job nationwide during the same time.
USPIS said criminals target letter carriers for their keys, which can open multiple mailboxes. They often use stolen mail to commit financial crimes, for instance taking checks and rewriting them for larger amounts.
In May, the Project Safe Delivery initiative was launched to combat the number of robberies and mail theft. USPS provided the following progress since then:
- Law Enforcement Surges Completed In Chicago, San Francisco, Ohio; More than 600 Individuals Arrested for Postal Crimes. Postal inspectors completed a series of targeted law enforcement surges in Chicago, San Francisco, and cities across Ohio, major metropolitan regions facing significant threats from organized postal crime. Each operation used wide-ranging law enforcement partnerships including with the Department of Justice, Postal Service Office of the Inspector General, other federal agencies, and local law enforcement. Postal Inspectors conducted more than 700 investigative actions, including the execution of arrests and other court-authorized law enforcement activities and more than 375 prevention activities, including presentations to postal employees on employee safety and mail theft prevention. Since May, the Inspection Service has made 109 arrests for robberies and more than 530 arrests for mail theft. The Inspection Service will continue to collaborate with local, state, and federal law enforcement and conduct targeted surge operations focusing on those high postal crime areas.
- 10,000 High-Security Blue Collection Boxes Installed Nationwide. The Postal Service is installing high-security blue collection boxes making access to their contents more difficult for criminals. Since May, over 10,000 high-security blue boxes have been deployed in high-security risk areas. The Postal Service will continue to evaluate replacing additional existing blue collection boxes with these enhanced boxes and anticipates installing several thousand more boxes in the near future. In specific locations where a blue box is a repeated crime target and/or mail density is very low, collection boxes may have to be removed entirely when access is not meaningfully diminished due to nearby access points.
- Ongoing Replacement of Antiquated Arrow Locks with 49,000 Electronic Locks. There has been an increase in letter carrier robberies nationwide where criminals are targeting letter carriers for their Arrow and Modified Arrow Lock (MAL) Keys. Criminals use Arrow and MAL keys to steal mail from secure mail receptacles to commit financial crimes, including altering checks to commit check fraud. To make Arrow Keys less valuable for criminals, the Postal Service has replaced more than 6,500 antiquated arrow locks with electronic locks in select cities. In the coming months, the Postal Service plans to deploy an additional 42,500 electronic locks nationwide. The Postal Service and the Postal Inspection Service are also increasing Arrow Key accountability reviews in select high Postal crime areas.
- 99.3% Reduction In Fraudulent Change of Address Submissions After Implementation of Electronic- and In-Person Authentication Procedures. The Postal Service processed more than 29 million change of address (COA) transactions in Fiscal Year 2023. Across the globe, identity theft is on the rise driven by a financial motive. The Postal Service is not the intended target, however, implicated due to the fraudster intercepting financially oriented mail such as credit cards or checks. To combat the rise in fraudulent submissions, the Postal Service has strengthened authentication processes for all methods of COA submissions, electronic and hardcopy submitted in person or through the mail stream.Since expanding enhanced in-person change of address protocols and implementing additional identity verification services for online change of addresses, fraudulent submissions have decreased by more than 99.3% compared to the same period last year.
- 50% Reduction in Counterfeit Package Postage In Postal Network Due to Increased Controls and Enforcement. The Postal Service is committed to protecting the integrity and security of the mail system and ensuring that customers receive the service they pay for. Customers are urged to use only authorized and legitimate labels for their packages and to report any suspicious or fraudulent labels to the USPS or the Inspection Service. Customers who use counterfeit or hijacked labels may face legal consequences and lose their mailing privileges. The USPS has developed a sophisticated system to identify, intercept and retain counterfeit or hijacked labels on packages, using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analysis. Since the start of the interception program, counterfeit package postage in the postal network has significantly reduced by more than 50%. In May, analysis conducted by the Inspection Service led to the arrest of a Chinese national in Los Angeles for running an alleged counterfeit postage scheme and shipping more than 9 million pieces of mail with $60 million in counterfeit postage.
The Inspection Service continues to expand actions to crack down on fraudulent postage including:
- Interdictions of packages with counterfeit labels affixed
- Reviews of shipments on Postal Service docks and during warehouse outreach visits
- Shut down of websites and closure of eCommerce accounts selling counterfeit postage
- Engagement and partnership with eCommerce companies to disrupt activity
- Customs and Border Protection (CBP) collaboration
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is also increasing rewards for information about postal crimes that lead to an arrest or conviction.
Information about a robbery or attempted robbery of a postal worker could lead to a $150,000 reward.
Friday, officials in Tampa said they arrested 12 people in connection to robberies in a three-year period. A spokesperson for USPIS in the Orlando area said they had nine federal arrests in FY22.
The News 6 team has been tracking robberies, arrests, and convictions in Central Florida including a case where two men were arrested in connection with a robbery spree.
In September, Jacoby Colon was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to rob postal carriers, armed postal robbery, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Darius Capers was sentenced to 4 years and 9 months in federal prison for conspiracy to rob postal carriers and attempted robbery of a postal carrier.
According to court records, the pair robbed three postal carriers in September and October 2022, including two workers in Orlando. Authorities said Colon threatened the carriers with a firearm and stole their keys and Caper was the lookout and getaway driver.
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