If you ship stuff overseas via US mail
BigAlan
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Thirteen Charged With Military Mail Theft
By TERENCE CHEA
Associated Press Writer
April 15, 2005, 9:02 PM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO -- Thirteen cargo handlers at San Francisco International Airport were charged Friday with stealing $200,000 worth of computers, cameras and other goods from mail bound for U.S. soldiers stationed in Japan, authorities said.
The 13 defendants, employees of cargo staffing company Aeroground, were arrested Thursday and Friday and appeared in federal court on charges of stealing and conspiring to steal U.S. mail, the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco said.
"We will not tolerate abuse of our mail system, and we will make every effort to ensure that postal customers and our postal system are protected and not compromised," said U.S. Attorney Kevin V. Ryan.
Attorneys for the defendants could not immediately be reached for comment Friday. The 13 men, who range in age from 19 to 52, did not enter pleas during their brief court appearance, said Cynthia Caporizzo, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office.
The defendants handled mail at the airport for an airline contracted by the U.S. military to deliver mail to Okinawa, Japan. San Francisco-based Aeroground would not comment about their status with the company, said spokeswoman Jordan Goldstein.
Since November 2003, soldiers based in Okinawa reported more than 570 incidents of not receiving mail or getting mail missing items such as laptop computers, digital cameras, DVD players and videogame consoles, according to the complaint. The winter holiday season saw the highest number of reported losses.
After hearing about the reports, U.S. Postal Service inspectors, assisted by military investigators, conducted surveillance at an airport-loading facility where they allegedly observed workers hiding items under their clothes and taking them to a nearby parking lot. They also noticed the cargo handlers carefully reading customs declaration forms that detailed each package's contents and value.
After taking out the goods, the cargo handlers would tape up the packages and send them on to Japan, where soldiers would discover items missing, according to the complaint. Some packages never arrived.
Many of the stolen items were then sold, sometimes at flea markets. One undercover postal investigator bought 15 items from one of the defendants, Caporizzo said.
If convicted, the cargo handlers could face up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
Aeroground, which employs 1,100 workers at 25 cargo terminals at nine international airports, has cooperated in the federal investigation, according to Goldstein.
"This has never happened in the history of Aeroground," Goldstein said. "Aeroground takes these allegations very seriously, and that's why we're cooperating with the investigation."
By TERENCE CHEA
Associated Press Writer
April 15, 2005, 9:02 PM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO -- Thirteen cargo handlers at San Francisco International Airport were charged Friday with stealing $200,000 worth of computers, cameras and other goods from mail bound for U.S. soldiers stationed in Japan, authorities said.
The 13 defendants, employees of cargo staffing company Aeroground, were arrested Thursday and Friday and appeared in federal court on charges of stealing and conspiring to steal U.S. mail, the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco said.
"We will not tolerate abuse of our mail system, and we will make every effort to ensure that postal customers and our postal system are protected and not compromised," said U.S. Attorney Kevin V. Ryan.
Attorneys for the defendants could not immediately be reached for comment Friday. The 13 men, who range in age from 19 to 52, did not enter pleas during their brief court appearance, said Cynthia Caporizzo, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office.
The defendants handled mail at the airport for an airline contracted by the U.S. military to deliver mail to Okinawa, Japan. San Francisco-based Aeroground would not comment about their status with the company, said spokeswoman Jordan Goldstein.
Since November 2003, soldiers based in Okinawa reported more than 570 incidents of not receiving mail or getting mail missing items such as laptop computers, digital cameras, DVD players and videogame consoles, according to the complaint. The winter holiday season saw the highest number of reported losses.
After hearing about the reports, U.S. Postal Service inspectors, assisted by military investigators, conducted surveillance at an airport-loading facility where they allegedly observed workers hiding items under their clothes and taking them to a nearby parking lot. They also noticed the cargo handlers carefully reading customs declaration forms that detailed each package's contents and value.
After taking out the goods, the cargo handlers would tape up the packages and send them on to Japan, where soldiers would discover items missing, according to the complaint. Some packages never arrived.
Many of the stolen items were then sold, sometimes at flea markets. One undercover postal investigator bought 15 items from one of the defendants, Caporizzo said.
If convicted, the cargo handlers could face up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
Aeroground, which employs 1,100 workers at 25 cargo terminals at nine international airports, has cooperated in the federal investigation, according to Goldstein.
"This has never happened in the history of Aeroground," Goldstein said. "Aeroground takes these allegations very seriously, and that's why we're cooperating with the investigation."
"It is good for the state that the people do not think."
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Comments
I quit shipping overseas when two items I mailed to Japan never arrived. In one case, the package itself arrived, but the contents had been removed. Glad they busted these clowns.
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Tom, formerly in Albuquerque, NM.
Very disconcerting. While I am glad these thugs were caught, one wonders how much more of this is going on undetected. It's kind of like the theory of finding a mouse or a roach in your house: you know there are many many more about.
It really chaps me that we have to make customs declarations so public. If one cuts the declaration off and encloses it in the mailing (which is allowable), that just triggers an certain opening of the package by overseas customs authorities, leading to brutal duty and inspection fees, merited or not. How do you deal with this? Registered post?
Or if I am in an honest mood, I use the phrase "numismatic item" or "numismatic supplies", in hopes that somebody stupid enough to steal from the mail is also dumb enough not to know the meaning of the term. NEVER put the word "coins" on anything.
That's my choice too.
09/07/2006
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
As for these bozos, I think they should serve thier time and then be presented to all of the people that they stole from...
Total Copper Nutcase - African, British Ships, Channel Islands!!!
'Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup'