JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville man was arrested last week for helping traffic nearly 100 pounds of marijuana through FedEx.
On June 9, Florida Highway Patrol Jacksonville says it was notified of a package believed to be a bulk marijuana shipment scheduled to arrive at a FedEx facility. Earlier freight shipments by the same sender had been seized, all of which contained marijuana.
The sender was identified as Theodore Wright Jr.
This time, rather than seize the package, FHP Jacksonville and agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted surveillance at FedEx.
Investigators observed Wright pull into the FedEx facility on Fox Street and walk inside. Several minutes later, the 27-year-old pulled his vehicle around to receive the large package and drove out of the parking lot toward Lane Ave, where a trooper and drug K9 Ace were waiting.
According to Wright’s arrest report, multiple vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana were found hidden inside two large Harmony speaker boxes.
Under 21 U.S. Code § 841, it is illegal to intentionally manufacture, distribute, dispense, or possess with intent to distribute any drugs or controlled or counterfeit substances. Prescription drugs are also illegal to mail under Federal Law unless you are an eligible entity registered as approved with the D.E.A. to ship drugs through the mail.
The United States Postal Service, Customs and Border Protection and other agencies have collaborated to develop new technology to help customs officers better detect illicit drugs in the mail.
The USPS is part of the federal government, and it has an inspection service of its own that oversees packages. There are more than 200 federal laws that govern criminal conduct with respect to the postal service.
In 2020, the Postal Inspection Service created a standardized nationwide Task Force Officer program. The USPS says TFOs are usually state and local police officers who are embedded with Postal Inspectors to enhance advance interdictions and investigations by providing access to local intelligence and networks.