Investigative Case Highlights

When describing our investigative work, we often say the overwhelming majority of postal employees work conscientiously to deliver the nation’s mail, but sometimes a few bad apples abuse the public’s trust in the Postal Service. What about the really good apples — those who deter postal crimes? We thought sharing such a story would be a great way to kick off the New Year.

It started like any get-rich-quick scheme does: a small, seemingly benign project that can be done quickly and with promising returns. But for one mail carrier in Florida, buying into easy money would unleash a chain of events he never anticipated.

Our Fall 2023 Semiannual Report to Congress outlines the Department of Labor’s (DOL) workers’ compensation program and the unique challenges it presents to the Postal Service. Those challenges compound when healthcare providers exploit the program, just like the following case that happened in Houston, Texas.

The opioid crisis continues to devastate parts of the country, especially vulnerable populations. Because of the severity of this crisis, local and regional governments are now offering the antidote Naloxone (commonly known as Narcan) and fentanyl testing strips free of charge to save lives. Some Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs) continue to target the Postal Service to transport and distribute illegal narcotics across state lines. Now more than ever, the work of our OIG Narcotics Strike Fo

As you’ll soon read in our upcoming Fall Semiannual Report to Congress, our OIG Hotline received over 90,000 complaints in the second half of this fiscal year. One of them led to a contract fraud investigation that returned a sizeable amount of money to the Postal Service.