CBP Opioids STOP Act
Customs initiative to stop opioids in Int’l mail
A CBP offi cer takes international mail and scans for content identifi cation
at USPS JFK Airport.
PHOTO BY JEFF YAPALATER
AIRPORT V VOICE, MARCH 2019 21
JFK CUSTOMS AND USPS ARE IN
THE FOREFRONT OF SOPHISTICATED
OPERATIONS TO FIGHT IMPORT OF
ILLEGAL DRUGS
The Synthetics Traffi cking
and Overdose Prevention
(STOP) Act requires that
all mail sent from foreign
countries through the
U.S. Postal Service must
provide “package level
detail information” to U.S.
Customs and Border Patrol.
This reduces the degree
of dangerous synthetic
Opioid drugs like fentanyl
and carfentanil from being
shipped through our borders
to drug traffi ckers here in the
United States.
The act intends to ensure
that merchandise arriving
through the mail shall
be subject to review by
U.S. Customs and Border
Protection and to require the
provision of advance electronic
information on shipments
of mail to U.S. Customs and
Border Protection, and for
other purposes.
The JFK post offi ce is
the largest facility handling
international mail in the US.
Port Director Frank Russo is
in charge of making sure that
the information collected by
the USPS is received before
the shipment reaches JFK
Airport so steps can be take to
review arriving mail parcels.
According to Port Director
Frank Russo, fentanly is a
drug produced in a laboratory
and can be manufactured
inexpensively overseas
then sold here in the US for
incredible sums of profi t. He
says that the major problem is
that it is extremely dangerous
like heroin with overdoses
occuring regularly leading to
death. Just three pure sand
like grains of fentanly can kill
someone hence the urgency to
stop as much as possible before
entering US homes. Opioids
with US brand by names
like Vicodin, MS Contin,
Kadian, Oxycontin, Percoset,
Dilaidid and Duragesic which
are legally prescribed and
purchase in the US for pain
relief.
Hundreds of thousands
of small parcels generally
pass through the USPS JFK
facility from international
origins with dangerous goods
with opioids and MDMA, aka
ecstasy, being top offenders.
The USPS facility at JFK
is an enormous place with
handling of goods daily. Now
with the STOP Act in effect, an
untold large number of these
packages are to be reviewed
in several ways to determine
contents and intercept.
Because these parcels are
not cargo, they did not get
under the same scrutiny as
the larger parcels which can
contain more bulk which is
necessary to make a profi t.
Russo says that just an ounce of
fentanyl can sell for hundreds
of thousands of dollars. So,it
is easy to understand how
criminals would try their
hardest to get as much product
shipped and evade inspection
at US borders.
Now, parcel manifests
are created overseas hours
before a shipment leaves the
country. Inspectors here in
the U.S. have advance notice
of suspected packages and are
able to prepare to intercept,
inspect and either quarantine,
or work with sister agencies to
follow a suspected shipment to
the delivery address in hopes
of fi nding an illegal delivery.
In addition, historical tracking
data of origin shipping is
being used. Offi cers look at
shipping labels, country of
origin, delivery addresses,
type of parcels and overseas
sources which contribute to
intel gathering.
But with manifests that are
detailing contents, this makes
the Customs job a bit easier to
identify. This law alone is not
the only way that Customs is
detecting drugs. The have
canines that are working
warehouses and sniffi ng out
illegal substances. Russo
says that these CBP dogs are
trained to detect different
drugs and can be dispatched
to cover a large area in a short
period of time.
The Trade Act of 2002
required private shippers
such as FedEx or UPS to
gather advance electronic data
on most shipments. However,
the U.S. Postal Service’s
participation was made
optional. None of the three
people to serve as Postmaster
General since have opted the
USPS in. Now with the passage
of the act, the USPS must enact
these provisions and report
manifest information to the
CBP.
The USPS is to transmit
advance electronic data
(AED) to Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) on at least
70 percent of international
packages by December 31,
2018, and 100 percent of
international packages by
December 31, 2020. The data
will enable CBP to target
high-risk shipments for
inspection and seizure. The
bill would require USPS to
refuse shipments for which
AED is not furnished after
December 31, 2020 or to take
remedial measures, including
law enforcement actions, to
ensure compliance.
A CBP OFFICER ,WITH JACK THE SHEPARD ,SNIFFING FOR ILLEGAL
DRUGS AT JFK USPS
Asst.Chief Kim Ciccollella of CBP with display of many illegal drugs
confi scated from international mail.
PHOTO BY JEFF YAPALATER
/Asst.Ch