Pubdate: Fri, 4 Jul 2008
Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2008 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact:  http://www.ottawasun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329
Author: Kathleen Harris, National Bureau Chief

HIGH ON POSTAL SERVICE

Canada Post Inspectors Seize Crack, Ecstasy, Pot and More Moving 
Illegally Through the Mail

The pot's in the post.

Canada's federal mail service has intercepted hundreds of illicit 
shipments of drugs, booze, weapons and cigarettes in the past 16 
months, nabbing everything from ecstasy en route to Happy Valley, 
Nfld., to magic mushrooms and marijuana bound for the west.

Documents obtained by Sun Media under Access to Information show 
Canada Post inspectors discovered crack cocaine, knock-off Gucci bags 
and bottles of rum, whiskey and vodka stuffed into parcels and 
illegally sent in the mail between January 2007 and May 2008.

Top Secret

Nicole Lemire, spokeswoman for Canada Post, said employees are 
well-trained to detect contraband goods, using a variety of methods 
to spot dangerous and non-mailable items. She would not divulge specifics.

"It would be like telling people the combination to your safe, and 
the more people you tell the less effective it becomes," she said.

Inspectors are always on the lookout for such things as traces of 
powder, a leaking substance or a certain odour. The lack of a return 
address or an incomplete recipient's address also raises eyebrows, she said.

"When suspicions do arise, we work with appropriate authorities," she said.

Non-mailable items include tobacco, firearms, perishable goods, 
animals, plants and material considered obscene or indecent.

According to the lists obtained by Sun Media, packages with illicit 
items have been destined for big cities and small towns from coast to 
coast. Shipment sizes range from a few joints or bottles of booze to 
a large-scale drug haul worth $1 million.

But the most common illicit shipments contain marijuana.

Pot activist and Cannabis Culture magazine publisher Marc Emery 
believes the seized stashes represent a tiny fraction of the weed 
moving through Canada's postal service on a daily basis. He said many 
Canada Post employees turn a blind eye to the contents, while senders 
are getting more clever about how to disguise the weed.

"I think the amount of marijuana going through the mail is 
dramatically higher than it ever has been," he said.

Unless they are a legal supplier of medicinal marijuana, senders 
usually use bogus return addresses and store the goods in plastic 
containers and vacuum sealing to elude detection.

Canada Post is the transport mode of choice, since courier companies 
require signatures, Emery said.

"Unless you really believe your legal rights can be upheld in court, 
you should avoid signing anything," he said. "Once you start signing 
things, you are leaving a paper trail from who's sending it and 
receiving it, and you tend to avoid that."

Undeliverable

Canada Post does not carry out routine inspections and cannot open 
any package without the approval of a senior postal inspector. 
Suspect packages removed from the normal mail stream are sent to one 
of two "undeliverable mail offices" in Toronto or Nova Scotia, while 
illegal items are turned over to police.

On one online forum, writers trade tips on how to safely disguise 
weed in the mail, including wrapping in duct tape then sprinkling in 
powder and dipping in candle wax. Another recommends packing the pot 
in coffee beans to mask the pungent smell of marijuana.

Lawyer and drug policy expert Eugene Oscapella said some people 
likely choose mail because it's cheaper and easier than other 
methods, such as personal delivery or hiring mules.

"People use many methods of transporting drugs, and there's no reason 
to think people wouldn't mail it," he said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake