HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – Right now, criminals are working to send drugs through the postal service. It’s been an ongoing problem that law enforcement are trying to combat.
Federal court documents state that in December 2020, the investigative team comprised of Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Virginia Beach Police Department received information from a confidential source that Nathan Hill and other unnamed conspirators were allegedly receiving mail parcels containing methamphetamine for distribution in the Eastern District of Virginia.
They state a package was sent to a home in Chesapeake, but the person who answered the door did not accept the package because they didn’t know where it came from.
Then, an unidentified male contacted the post office concerning the refused parcel and requested re-delivery of the package. The package was then turned over to the investigative team for further investigation.
Hill is accused of calling the postal office to inquire about the package.
Authorities said they discovered three pounds of meth inside the package.
Records state that a member of the investigative team acted in an undercover capacity as an unscrupulous USPS employee with a confidential informant to arrange for the delivery of the refused parcel in Virginia Beach.
Hill is accused of arriving at the meet-up place and was arrested.
Records say that when Hill was arrested, he alleged said he had known the methamphetamine source in California for approximately one year, and they charged him $500 per ounce of methamphetamine. Hill also allegedly admitted he owed his methamphetamine source approximately $24,000.
Hill has his next court hearing March 29.
His attorney had no comment about the accusations.
In another case, three women from Norfolk and a man and woman from Arizona are accused of bringing meth and fentanyl pills into Hampton Roads through the mail from Arizona. Records say the overnight packages were delivered to homes in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Chesapeake on at least 21 occasions.
The US Post Office says postal inspectors across the country work every day to protect postal employees and the American public by leading the effort to eliminate drugs and contraband in the U.S. mail, both foreign and domestic.
They said the goal is achieved by prohibiting mail containing illegal items, investigating criminal activity and dismantling the dark web, which allows drug dealers to sell their goods through an internet connection.
Related: Norfolk man pleads guilty to shipping fentanyl, trying to bribe Homeland Security agent
