Illegal Shipping through Postal System and Postal Remedies for the Problem (Essay Sample)

Illegal Shipping through Postal System and Postal Remedies for the Problem
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Institution
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Illegal Shipping through Postal System and Postal Remedies for the Problem
Introduction
How much are you concerned about the mail delivered to your or neighbor doorstep? Do you contemplate on the responsibility that the shippers and the courier firms such as FedEx condone to deliver the contents to the mailboxes at your doorstep without infringing? The criminals have devised a safe and easier way to distribute their products without raising any suspicions. The embarrassing part is that they are using the government systems to have their products such as illegal drugs and weapons to be delivered to their customers. The criminals opted for the postal systems because the facility lacks the necessary resources to investigate the contents of the packages. The budget allocated to the postal systems cannot support the hiring of investigators to retrace the packages where it has originated since the recipients forge the signature and the address is made under a false name. The paper will discuss how criminals are utilizing the US Postal systems to supply illegal drugs, the measures taken to crack down the individuals, the actions that are imposed on the individuals including their prosecutions once they arrested, and lastly, the actions being taken to combat illegal mailing.
Methods of Utilizing the USPS to Mail Illegal Products
Carriers have been probing that question after the Department of Justice stated that the FedEx has been collaborating with criminals to distributing illegal substances and prescriptions that are not authorized for them to be sold illegally (Peachy, 2015). Vendors in the dark web have infiltrated postal system to distribute their illegal drugs to the community. Someone might assume that the peddlers are utilizing some impenetrable channels to get the illegal products countrywide. Additionally, it is easy to imagine that they are using a warehouse and delivering their products in the wee hours in streets that are hidden, but that is not the case.
The sad part is that the vendors are using the government systems to ensure their products are delivered, and the government is not happy concerning the matter. However, one cannot blame the postal system since they are denied the necessary equipment to scan the postal mails. Additionally, the mailing system has been performing poorly due to the advancement of the technology, and thus, the postal mails are sent in small volumes (Ormsby, 2012). Hence, their yearly budget cannot facilitate the hiring of investigators; instead, they have been retrenching their employees. The USPS have been incurring losses because of small in-flow of work, and thus by July they agreed on reducing three thousand employees.
USPS now is being targeted and flourishing with the workflow. However, it is not a legal business; it has been turned to be a channel for criminals. The business of distributing knock-off drugs is escalating since the postal workers are facilitating its growth. The corrupt postal workers are responsible for hoarding the imported medicinal products for the black market dispensaries. For instance, drivers from the Parcel force are under investigation because of the allegations that they stop at individual addresses but do not drop the packages. The drivers have emphasized that they have suspected the packages to be sent to people under false names and carrying illegal drugs. The criminals have mastered the art of forgery when it comes to signatures especially from recipients (Loverde, 2014). The packages are usually passed through middlemen who are used to ensure the illegal products are distributed to other countries.
Shipping illegal products through the postal system is not an uprising concern since companies such as FedEx have been accused of such activities. FedEx emphasize that they lack knowledge concerning the packages only to discover that they are shipping illicit drugs to consumers. The US postal system is rather unwilling to participant in curbing the drug trade since some of the workers are corrupt, and they are part of the drug operations. The criminals have opted for the postal channel to avoid transporting significant amounts of illegal drugs or money across the state (Burdi & Sentimel, 2011). The criminals have gathered that several states have distinctive laws concerning transportation of illicit drugs, and they might end up in the arms of the law enforcement; thus, they have opted for a less dangerous way to distribute it, and that is the neglected postal systems.
Drug vendors have perfected the act of gambling with businesses such US postal system and FedEx since they are busy and large hence it will be difficult for the packages to be investigated as they are delivered. Additionally, the dealers have devised certain methods to avoid being traced; hence, they ship the illegal drugs under a false identity and forged signatures. According to Peachey (2015), the criminals have converted the deliverymen to become corrupt, or sometimes the accomplices of the drug vendors pose as legitimate couriers only to use their delivery services to distribute illicit drugs. Drug vendors have explained that they utilize the mail system because the law enforcement is ignorant n trying to investigate where the drugs originate from and who will receive them. Additionally, the law enforcement lacks the necessary resources to handle the investigation since it consumes many person-hours to figure such an incidence. Therefore, the law enforcement agencies when they get a suspicious package, they just seize it and assume it.
The 2014 Attorney General Eric Holder shared his sentiments concerning the increase of drug incidences being transported using mail. He emphasized on how the mailing system is being utilized as a drug channel by drug vendors and eventually, they pump the illegal drugs to the community countrywide. Myall (2014) states that the deadly illegal drugs are sold on the dark net and delivered to several addresses through the postal systems. The shipments are disguised as ordinary mail or household bills by the drug vendors. The illegal drugs that are sold through the dark web, they are never traced using the typical search engine. The drugs barons have become cunning to an extent of using first class post, and they ensure the postal mails have been ordinarily stamped to avoid raising any suspicions during the delivery services. The site that is used by the drug vendor is found to be similar as that of Internet Explorer but hides the location of the recipient.
The main drugs that are being illegally shipped include cannabis, cocaine, steroids, and MDMA. The dark web also has a site concerning the illegal weapons, porn, and forged documents. The currency paid for these illegal products can only be done with the Internet currency (Bitcoins); thus, there is a little chance of the money source being traced. The drug dealers convert the Bitcoins into the currency they desire. According to Myall (2014), the peddlers are not afraid of being arrested since they are sure they cannot be traced, and they are always bragging in those sites such as Silky Road concerning their methods to smuggle the drugs and how the illegal drugs are top quality and have outstanding reviews.
Ormsby (2012) pointed out that most of the people are ordering the drugs from the dark web such as Silk Road because the illegal drugs can be accessed quickly, they are cheaper and are of high quality compared to the one's sold directly to an individual. The customers are leaning towards this channel since they do not have to worry about meeting a stranger in the dark alleys for drug transactions. The existing mail carrier normally does the delivery of the illicit drugs, and thus, it is less suspicious. Most deliveries are done after two weeks and are neatly packed in business or padded envelopes that are carefully vacuum-sealed such that the law enforcements cannot bother to check. Ormsby (2012) continues to state that the government has contributed to the drugs underground production and consumption because of branding some drugs illegal.
Myall (2014) indicated that most of the packages arrive in small portions to avoid raising any suspicions to the authorities. The illegal substances are always wrapped in a heat-sealed foil that the scanners cannot penetrate and thus, the drugs are smuggled safely through the government systems. Additionally, the illegal products are wrapped severally with a piece of plastic before they are packaged as a parcel; when containing a potent marijuana, the plastic is covered with an axle grease to disguise the smell.
Measurements to Crackdown Illegal Shipping
Loverde (2014), states that due to the rise of illegal drug mailing, the postal systems have strategized their plan to eradicate the smuggling of drugs. The postal systems have opted to reward their employees with a stipend if they can successful identify and prohibit the illegal drugs packages from being distributed. The employees have been successfully trained to determine the packages that are packaged weirdly or are smelling of drugs. The number of people being reprimanded because of the illegal drugs smuggling is escalating because of the hefty stipend and the training offered. In instances such as Colorado State where weed is legalized, the law enforcement has stepped in to limit the quantity of pot being grown as a strategy to reduce the selling of untaxed marijuana.
Additionally, the federal government is in support concerning the measurements the Colorado state is doing in regulating the pot distribution to other countries. Although it acknowledges that the distribution is happening, they have indicated that they are in support on how the industry is being tightened and hence, the legal marijuana trade should not be ended. For instance, t...