Pubdate: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2004 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Author: John Bermingham, The Vancouver Province INSUFFICIENT POSTAGE EXPOSES MARIJUANA BY MAIL SCHEME VANCOUVER - Residents in a Vancouver suburb opening their morning mail have been getting a surprise gift -- a letter stuffed with a sizable bag of marijuana. The letters have been arriving as return mail, leading to fears that drug traffickers are using their names and addresses to run drugs through the mail. Chris Taulu, who manages the Collingwood Community Policing Centre, said she's had four letters cross her desk in the past couple of months. Ms. Taulu figures each envelope contains enough marijuana for a half-dozen joints. "If for any reason it's returned, guess where it's returned to. It's returned to the address on the envelope," she said. In each case, she said, the letters were bound for U.S. addresses, but didn't have enough postage. "Maybe they're just sending it out as samples. It's flat enough that it will get through Customs. Maybe it's the new way of shipping," Ms. Taulu said. One of the hapless victims is an elderly couple, she said. "They're law-abiding citizens. What they're afraid of is what happens if it's a bigger pound of marijuana or cocaine, and the drug squad is knocking at their door." Vancouver Police could not confirm whether an investigation is under way. Canada Post spokesman John Caines had never heard of the scam before. "But it doesn't mean it hasn't happened," he said from Ottawa. "There are some people who use other people's addresses, and they get to the mail before the people take it out of the mailbox." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek