7 ms·

There have been cases where drugs were mailed to an address and the person receiving the package, not knowing what was in it, was arrested. That is one reason

There have been cases where drugs were mailed to an address and the person receiving the package, not knowing what was in it, was arrested. That is one reason why no one who has any sense will accept a package they were not expecting.

Falling3 14y ago
Really? I think you're being a bit hyperbolic here as my chances of getting a surprise gift are far better than the odds of me getting set up with cocaine.
- dougp 14y ago
  It may be rare but it happened to the mayor of a town in maryland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berwyn_Heights,_Maryland_mayors_residence_drug_raid http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berwyn_Heights,_Maryland_mayors...
  - Falling3 14y ago
    Yea so? I'll see your anecdote with the dozen or so unexpected deliveries I've received in the past few months. How do you reasonably protect yourself from an expected package that turns out to be contraband? Anway, that was some horrific police work (and don't get me started on cops busting into a home and shooting pets). Your article speaks way more to the need for police accountability and the need to end our ridiculous war on plants than anything else.
- barik 14y ago
  I worked for the Department of Homeland security as a contractor in 2009 to develop software for exactly such a use case. The operation for such merchandise is to ship products to basically an arbitrary address (sometimes knowing that the actual resident is on vacation, I suppose), and then have someone on the delivery end intercept the package. In these cases, the only realistic option for officials is to intercept on or during delivery since the origin address is usually completely fabricated. Part of my role was to assist in the warehousing system to intercept (during transfer to verify that the shipment is in fact illegal) anomalous mailings (much in the way credit card companies try to identify anomalous purchases as fraud). The illegal materials will be shipped in all sorts of interesting ways. For example, we had a package that appeared to come from Kellogg, but the merchandise was actually at the bottom of each of the (packed and closed) cereal boxes. Unfortunately, DHS has quite a backlog, so there are currently entire warehouses in the US whose sole job is to secure drugs, guns, and other materials until officials can come inspect the packages. Of course, sometimes they are not intentional violations of the law (for instance, certain food and animal products can't be shipped to the US). But if you ever in such a warehouse, it is truly a sight to behold.
  - Falling3 14y ago
    I'm not saying it doesn't happen. I'm saying that the risk-reward ratio is way too skewed for me to give it a second thought.
    - barik 14y ago
      Oh, absolutely. It is not something that a regular person would ever need to worry about, since statistically the odds of this ever happening to any one person are extremely low (and even if it did, the person may not even know it because of procedures such as the above). But it's important enough at a national level that security officials are interested in tackling the problem. So yes, it's possible that drugs have been mailed to you without you knowing it. In rare circumstances (especially if you just moved into that address, for example), you might be arrested to figure out what's going on. But it becomes hyperbole to suggest that you will automatically be charged and put in jail because of a random drop shipment (though I'm sure some HN person will find a counterexample just for the sake of doing so).
      - stickfigure 14y ago
        So I won't automatically be charged and put in jail, but I might be arrested. This is supposed to be reassuring?
        barik 14y ago
        > This is supposed to be reassuring? I guess I'll worry about it when and if it happens to me. But no, it's certainly not something I think about on a day to day basis, just as I also don't worry that someone might steal my car in the middle of the night and commit a crime with it -- another scenario in which, yes, you may also be arrested or at the very least questioned. I'm inclined to believe that such arrests are quite rare, but that's just speculation, and I'm open to evidence to the contrary.
        385668 14y ago
pbhjpbhj 14y ago
>There have been cases [...] // You know what's great about legal cases, particularly this sort, they are so well documented and mentioned in newspapers, etc.. Citations please. Now there being cases where a crim' claimed that they didn't know the package was drugs, that I can imagine in a heart beat.

Falling3 14y ago

Really? I think you're being a bit hyperbolic here as my chances of getting a surprise gift are far better than the odds of me getting set up with cocaine.

dougp 14y ago
It may be rare but it happened to the mayor of a town in maryland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berwyn_Heights,_Maryland_mayors_residence_drug_raid http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berwyn_Heights,_Maryland_mayors...
- Falling3 14y ago
  Yea so? I'll see your anecdote with the dozen or so unexpected deliveries I've received in the past few months. How do you reasonably protect yourself from an expected package that turns out to be contraband? Anway, that was some horrific police work (and don't get me started on cops busting into a home and shooting pets). Your article speaks way more to the need for police accountability and the need to end our ridiculous war on plants than anything else.
barik 14y ago
I worked for the Department of Homeland security as a contractor in 2009 to develop software for exactly such a use case. The operation for such merchandise is to ship products to basically an arbitrary address (sometimes knowing that the actual resident is on vacation, I suppose), and then have someone on the delivery end intercept the package. In these cases, the only realistic option for officials is to intercept on or during delivery since the origin address is usually completely fabricated. Part of my role was to assist in the warehousing system to intercept (during transfer to verify that the shipment is in fact illegal) anomalous mailings (much in the way credit card companies try to identify anomalous purchases as fraud). The illegal materials will be shipped in all sorts of interesting ways. For example, we had a package that appeared to come from Kellogg, but the merchandise was actually at the bottom of each of the (packed and closed) cereal boxes. Unfortunately, DHS has quite a backlog, so there are currently entire warehouses in the US whose sole job is to secure drugs, guns, and other materials until officials can come inspect the packages. Of course, sometimes they are not intentional violations of the law (for instance, certain food and animal products can't be shipped to the US). But if you ever in such a warehouse, it is truly a sight to behold.
- Falling3 14y ago
  I'm not saying it doesn't happen. I'm saying that the risk-reward ratio is way too skewed for me to give it a second thought.
  - barik 14y ago
    Oh, absolutely. It is not something that a regular person would ever need to worry about, since statistically the odds of this ever happening to any one person are extremely low (and even if it did, the person may not even know it because of procedures such as the above). But it's important enough at a national level that security officials are interested in tackling the problem. So yes, it's possible that drugs have been mailed to you without you knowing it. In rare circumstances (especially if you just moved into that address, for example), you might be arrested to figure out what's going on. But it becomes hyperbole to suggest that you will automatically be charged and put in jail because of a random drop shipment (though I'm sure some HN person will find a counterexample just for the sake of doing so).
    - stickfigure 14y ago
      So I won't automatically be charged and put in jail, but I might be arrested. This is supposed to be reassuring?
      - barik 14y ago
        > This is supposed to be reassuring? I guess I'll worry about it when and if it happens to me. But no, it's certainly not something I think about on a day to day basis, just as I also don't worry that someone might steal my car in the middle of the night and commit a crime with it -- another scenario in which, yes, you may also be arrested or at the very least questioned. I'm inclined to believe that such arrests are quite rare, but that's just speculation, and I'm open to evidence to the contrary.
        385668 14y ago

pbhjpbhj 14y ago

>There have been cases [...] // You know what's great about legal cases, particularly this sort, they are so well documented and mentioned in newspapers, etc.. Citations please. Now there being cases where a crim' claimed that they didn't know the package was drugs, that I can imagine in a heart beat.