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Is your postman delivering drugs?

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TrueBlueTerrier
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Is your postman delivering drugs?

Post by TrueBlueTerrier »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/3 ... ring-drugs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Large amounts of illegal drugs are being delivered unknowingly by UK postal workers with few checks, Radio 1 Newsbeat has found.

For several months we have been investigating drugs in the post bought on the dark web.

We heard that "millions of pounds of drugs are bought online every day" via the hidden layer of the internet where dealers can sell drugs anonymously.

Royal Mail said it does not knowingly carry any illegal items in its network.

Newsbeat spoke to delivery staff who said they had "definitely handled suspect packages" but there was "nothing they could do".

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There are fears that users buying drugs this way are more likely to widen their substance choices, with dangerous consequences.

And users we spoke to believe there's a "99% certainty" that drugs ordered via the dark web will get to them.

The Home Office says it is spending £1.9m trying to "increase understanding" in how organised crime networks "adapt and diversify" using technology.

Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, and Labour MP, Yvette Cooper is looking at how the police can "keep up with new and changing forms of crime".

"We need to know there's a proper approach to enforcement taking place," she tells Newsbeat.

"One of the things we want to know is how the police are able to co-operate with different organisations.

"What is happening to link up [the police] with postal services or with customs or with other organisations? What's the government doing to lead this?"

How we tested the system

"Unless there are massive raids on markets any time soon" causing "a loss of consumer confidence", this "hidden" drug market will keep growing, says Chris Monteiro, an independent cyber-security expert and researcher.

Newsbeat obtained MDMA, cannabis and former legal high, Spice using Bitcoin on the "dark web", a collection of thousands of websites that use anonymity tools to hide their IP address.

"Talk of better prices and improved purity will continue to spread and eat away at the offline market," he explains.

And he adds: "Government and police are more interested in data breaches and weapons [than drugs]."

Waiting for a special delivery

Former user "Steve" tells Newsbeat he bought marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, and psychedelic stimulants on the dark web.

He describes a time he and a friend ordered drugs to take to a festival.

"We were waiting for a package, for an ounce of MDMA to be delivered.

"We see the postie drive down and we get very excited. She gives me the package, I sign for it... happy doo-dah.

She had no idea she was a part of the drugs trade


What "Steve" did was illegal and could have resulted in a jail term for possession of drugs with intent to supply.

This part of the internet also contains a marketplace for drugs like heroin and steroids - as well as weapons and fraudulent documents.

We accessed the dark web via the Tor browser, free software which conceal users' identities and their online activity from surveillance.

Deliveries to a PO Box took around a week to arrive.

When they did, we gave them to a government-approved lab for testing and destruction.

What post workers told us

We went out with a postman who wanted to remain anonymous.

"Patrick" told us that it's illegal for him to open suspect parcels and there's "nothing he can do about it".

"You tell the managers and all they say is you need to deliver it."

He added: "If it's got a stamp on it, you post it. We don't have drug dogs to smell every parcel. We don't have the resources to X-ray every parcel. We just have to deliver it and take the risk.

"Our job is to deliver it safely to the customer."

Newsbeat has been told that some random spot-checks do occur but most staff we spoke to had never seen a sniffer dog.

"I've spent 14 years as a postman in uniform and I have never seen a drug dog," one worker at a London depot said.

Another said: "You hear rattling of things like pills and assume they're legitimate, but how would we know?"

"I've definitely handled suspect post, but once we have it in our mail bag we have to deliver it," said another.

On a forum used by postal workers we heard from a number of people who all noted that they had handled packages which had smelled of cannabis.

Many described there being more checks in the past when the depot had a customs office on site. Mail being sent within the UK does not seem to undergo the same scrutiny.

Are people trying new drugs because of the dark web?

Yes, according to data from the Global Drug Survey [GDS].

"About a third of people said they'd broaden their drug-using repertoire," says Dr Adam Winstock, from Kings College and GDS, who also says "millions of pounds of drugs are bought online every day".

"So it's like 'we've noticed you like LSD and magic mushrooms, perhaps you'd be interested in 2CB or DMT'...

"I think there is absolutely that effect," he tells Newsbeat.

"You're always worried that an increase in repertoire increases the likelihood that someone comes across something that might be harmful."

One-in-five people who responded to the 2016 Global Drug Survey said they had bought drugs on the dark web - or had friends buy them for them.

Are any countries tackling drugs in the post?

In New Zealand more has been done to stop drugs in the post.

"New Zealand is an anomaly in that only 2% of those who took our survey said they'd bought drugs on the dark net," says Dr Winstock.

"The reason people don't go shopping on the dark net in New Zealand is because there's really good co-operation between the police and the postal services and their borders are unbelievably good."

This more joined-up approach has led to New Zealand's customs service seizing three times as many suspect packages over the past two years.

What British authorities say they are doing

In a statement, the Home Office told Newsbeat: "We have committed to spending £1.9bn on cyber security over the next five years, including boosting the capabilities of the National Crime Agency's National Cyber Crime Unit, increasing their ability to investigate the most serious cyber crime."

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "Where Royal Mail has any suspicion that illegal items are being sent through our system, we work closely with the police and other authorities including the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to assist
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Nigel1505
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Is your postman delivering drugs?

Post by Nigel1505 »

"You tell the managers and all they say is you need to deliver it."

Yes indeed; happened to me a few years ago and got the same nonchalant reply. To much hassle for him I suppose, so just delivered it as ordered. :thumbup
bustedflush
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Is your postman delivering drugs?

Post by bustedflush »

Is your postman delivering drugs?

Crikey I hope so or I'm £34.85 out of pocket! :shock:
Lounge Lizard
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Is your postman delivering drugs?

Post by Lounge Lizard »

Quiet news day. :cuppa :cuppa :cuppa
F3zza
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Is your postman delivering drugs?

Post by F3zza »

Is your postman delivering drugs?
http://m.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/382 ... ring-drugs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting read and we probably are, but what can we really do about it?
woopesh
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Is your postman delivering drugs?

Post by woopesh »

F3zza wrote:Is your postman delivering drugs?
http://m.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/382 ... ring-drugs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting read and we probably are, but what can we really do about it?
Nothing. Most doms and linos would just tell you to deliver because they can't be bothered to fill out reports and call the police. There is a coffee machine that needs attending to!
thewackymonkey
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Is your postman delivering drugs?

Post by thewackymonkey »

Our office HAS DELIVERED Cannabis to a block of flats last year.
The package stunk to high heaven in the office, it was taken to the gaffa has the postie felt uncomfortable delivering it has it was so obvious what it was.
Dom said deliver it we are not the Police!!!
meercat
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Is your postman delivering drugs?

Post by meercat »

The USA is steadily legalising Cannabis and not a moment too soon. Alcohol and tobacco are the drugs that we should all be worried about as they cause huge problems in our town centers and A+E units and Cancer wards. Our prisons are full of people who were drunk when they committed their crimes - 53% of all violent crimes are perpetrated by people out of control on the drug alcohol.

I'd imagine the Police have a lot better things to be spending their time on than stopping 'Barry' from safely sourcing some herbal relief - and it saves 'Barry' coming into contact with street pushers and harder drugs.