Opened Mail.

[bri2u2002]

I received 'mail' and it was delivered but the package had been opened. Torn open but contents were still intact.

Is that something to worry about or should I chalk it up to 'circumstance'?

 

[graugeist]

I received 'mail' and it was delivered but the package had been opened. Torn open but contents were still intact.

Is that something to worry about or should I chalk it up to 'circumstance'?

I take it that you were sending or receiving drugs in the mail or you wouldn't be posting here about this. Utilizing the USPS to send/receive that kind of stuff is a federal offense. It could be months before you would receive a love letter telling you to quit it, so if you are concerned I wouldn't go sending or receiving anything else for a good long while. Hopefully the address is not tied to any of your residences (even past residences) and you were not using your real name.

It boils down to how much of a risk you are willing to take. It's really your decision on where to go with this.

 

[bri2u2002]

I was receiving if that makes a difference. It cleared customs obviously.

Can the mail take it upon themselves to open mail without a search warrant of some kind and not notify me?


Why would it be delivered if it's contents were suspect? Can I be held responsible for what is sent to me?

Hell, it could be some ex getting revenge or a million other things. Can I be held liable for what is sent to me?


Thanks in advance.
Brian

 

[Falcon0r]

Mail is often torn open completely accidentally. The mail system can be rough at times, mail carriers can be careless, automated sorting systems can tear packages, etc. If someone in the post office *illegally* (since they did not have a search warrant and you were not notified) opened your mail and saw possibly illegal substances in it, they would have either said something or taken it or trashed them.

I've received packages that have been damaged i.e. torn open in the past, one time the envelope was completely empty, another time it was just torn open a little. If you received it and did not have your door busted down within that day, you're pretty much in the clear - but it does not hurt to lay low for a while. Or at the least, get a P.O. box.

 

[AmsterTram]

I was receiving if that makes a difference. It cleared customs obviously.

Can the mail take it upon themselves to open mail without a search warrant of some kind and not notify me?


Why would it be delivered if it's contents were suspect? Can I be held responsible for what is sent to me?

Hell, it could be some ex getting revenge or a million other things. Can I be held liable for what is sent to me?


Thanks in advance.
Brian

Since you said customs, I will assume the package was crossing an international border, therefore they can and do open any package they want (they can do this for domestic in the US as well).

They could deliver it to watch you for a while and then bust you if you get more. However, in that case they would probably fix it up so you could not tell they had opened it.

Remember, when you send drugs via USPS you are making the federal government part of your drug deal....very risky.

 

[tobala]

If it were torn open by customs, it would have been taped together with special blue tape that says "PACKAGE OPENED BY CUSTOMS" or something to that extent.

I had some CD'Rs delivered from Colombia to the US where this had happened.

I think in this case it was just accidental damage to the package.

 

[delta_9]

Can the mail take it upon themselves to open mail without a search warrant of some kind and not notify me?

The federal USPS can open any letter/package/etc. without warrant. Mail/package delivery companies such as FedEx and UPS need a warrant before they can open anything.

It could be months before you would receive a love letter telling you to quit it

This is not likely IMO. While you may indeed receive a 'love letter' if your package is siezed, it will certainly not take months. You would be notified within a relatively short period of time.

 

[delta_9]

I'm not allowed to edit posts in LD, so my appologies to the mods for the dbl post.

Why would it be delivered if it's contents were suspect? Can I be held responsible for what is sent to me?
Hell, it could be some ex getting revenge or a million other things. Can I be held liable for what is sent to me?

As far as I'm aware, simply having a package delivered to your home which contains drugs/other illegal items is not a crime, just be sure not to sign for shit. Since as you said, you may not necessarily have intentionally ordered these illegal items and for all you know it could be a coincidence
There are of course exceptions. For example, your package being intercepted by police/dea and then re-delivered in a sting operation or something. I think I saw this on tv once. Obviously you'd have to be into some serious shit for them to go through the trouble. If you are just coping small amounts of personal things, you have little to worry about except getting scammed.

 

[kong]

The federal USPS can open any letter/package/etc. without warrant. Mail/package delivery companies such as FedEx and UPS need a warrant before they can open anything.

Everything I've ever read suggests the opposite. Priority, Express, Registered mail etc all need a warrant to be searched. Regular usps mail does not. No FedEx or UPS mail needs a warrant.

 

[Coolio]

The federal USPS can open any letter/package/etc. without warrant. Mail/package delivery companies such as FedEx and UPS need a warrant before they can open anything.

You have that backwards. FedEx and UPS open suspicious packages without a warrant. USPS requires the postal inspectors get a signed warrant from a judge before opening any mail. US Customs & Border Patrol however, opens any USPS mail they want when it crosses over an international border into the USA.

 

[Heuristic]

^ Border search exception; no warrant required.

That said, no one is going to be able to tell you definitively whether your delivery was searched or not.

 

[delta_9]

Everything I've ever read suggests the opposite. Priority, Express, Registered mail etc all need a warrant to be searched. Regular usps mail does not. No FedEx or UPS mail needs a warrant

You have that backwards. FedEx and UPS open suspicious packages without a warrant. USPS requires the postal inspectors get a signed warrant from a judge before opening any mail

My apologies to you both. I had read the complete opposite in a book some months ago(perhaps an outdated book?).
Good information to have though

 

[Titus]

So the drugs were delivered to you and you were not arrested and just had/have the drugs in your house?

I'm not a lawyer but I don't think cops do controlled deliveries and let the target just keep the drugs (unless they are trying to establish a pattern that u order on a regular basis, but then why would the package be open.... they are raising suspicion, kind of tipping their hand if that was their plan). My GUESS, you got lucky.

They almost always will rush in and bust ppl within minutes of doing a controlled delivery so they catch you with the evidence. Going to court with no drugs as evidence is a less strong case than going to court with the actual drugs and not just cops testimony and pictures.

I have had packages arrive at my house (only rarely but has happpened) partially opened. Once it was an envelope with chloral hydrate, that smells strong as anything, the mail lady MUST have smelled it and there was powder in the bottom of my mailbox and I don't doubt in the bottom of her bag... but nothing ever came from it. It was simply a post office screw up that made the pack partially open going thru one of the conveyor belts.