OIG Joins Forces to Disrupt Major Drug Trafficking Scheme
By focusing on investigating Postal Service employees who collude with drug trafficking organizations, most of our investigations target larger, multi-state operations. But as for keeping drugs out of America’s mail, no narcotics investigation is too small.
This case started with an allegation that Postal Service employees in Long Island, NY, were trafficking drugs from California through the mail. Our special agents partnered with investigators from the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Nassau County District Attorney’s Office to quickly narrow down the pool of suspects.
Through sophisticated investigative techniques, they narrowed the search down to a single mail carrier who’d been delivering dozens of unusual packages along her route. Investigators seized a 9 kg package of cocaine and a 1 kg package of deadly fentanyl — about the weight of a large watermelon and a liter of water, respectively.
When our special agents spoke with the mail carrier, she confessed a man outside the Postal Service had approached her with an offer promising easy money. He was a DJ with one of the country’s largest satellite broadcasting companies, using Love Dinero (Love Money) as his stage name.
The offer was tempting and she ran with it. But when she spoke with our special agents, she said she had stopped the deliveries.
What led her to stop? It was our special agents pulling one of the packages she was expecting from the mailstream. When she noticed it was missing, she feared she would be caught. But by then, investigators were already on to her and her money-loving, drug dealing co-conspirator.
The joint investigation uncovered the postal employee delivered about 180 drug-containing mail packages. OIG special agents arrested the employee, who was later convicted and sentenced to five years’ probation. As for her partner in crime — he was also apprehended, convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison for trafficking an estimated $1 million worth of cocaine and fentanyl.
Moving illegal drugs through the mail is a crime. If you suspect or know of narcotics trafficking involving Postal Service employees or contractors, please report it to our Hotline.
“The USPS OIG plays a critical role in the nation’s fight against the opioid epidemic. We remain committed to rooting out any postal employee or contractor who violates their public trust by moving narcotics through the U.S. Mail. And we are grateful to our law enforcement partners at the FBI, USPIS, and NCDA who assisted in this investigation to disrupt this drug trafficking ring.”
– Tammy Hull
Inspector General, U.S. Postal Service
For further reading:
Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, Sirius XM DJ and Mail Carrier Indicted for Narcotics Trafficking, Former Sirius XM DJ Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for Narcotics Trafficking Scheme