U.S. Postal Inspection Service arrests five people in Chicago area in postal safety operation
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The U.S. Postal Inspection Service has arrested five people in the Chicago area as part of a two-week operation called Project Safe Delivery.
We have been reporting on crimes against postal carriers for months. Many involve carriers getting robbed for their arrow keys - the keys that give them access to multiple mailboxes.
The USPIS said in a news release Wednesday that the two-week investigation involved 35 surveillance operations and more than 300 prevention activities. The investigation also involved 65 interviews of illicit financial holders and money mules – people who transfer or move illegally-acquired money on behalf of somebody else.
The investigation focused on enforcement, prevention, and protection – with the goal of making postal carrier safer; and charging violent criminals, mail thieves, and money mules, and protecting the sanctity of the U.S. Mail, the USPIS said.
"The enforcement, prevention, and protection activities completed during the initiative played an immeasurable role in advancing ongoing criminal investigations in the Chicago area," Ruth Mendonça, inspector in charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Chicago Division, said in a news release.
The USPIS says more operations like this will be planned in the future.
