my friend has a PO box he's been using for receiving some highly questionable packages.

so far everything's been fine, but recently he's been getting extremely sketched out about it, reading about PO box busts, having them reseal the package, put it in there, and bust them as they come pick it up.

so, he was wondering, would a private mailbox, specifically one at the UPS store or similar locations, be safer than a PO box at the post office? these private boxes are open 24/7, and i beleive his PO box isn't (not 100% on that). this would mean being able to come in at night, make sure there's no strange cars in the parking lot, etc, and as long as the package fits in his box, he wouldn't have to sign the UPS store log for packages that don't fit.

all the packages are (of course) coming through USPS, and a controlled delivery is not one of his major worries as he doesn't intend to sign for anything.

my main questions are:

1. does the UPS store have the right/ability to search your package without a warrant just because you're using their mailbox service? do the same rules that apply to USPS apply here, since USPS would still be transporting the package?

2. are these personal mailboxes generally safer (obviously nothing is 100% safe) than PO boxes?

3. does anyone know if busts happen more often at these UPS-store-like boxes, or PO boxes? keep in mind my friend is not sending or receiving any extremely large quantities. the most physical weight he would be receiving would be about a QP of vegetable matter, double vaccuum sealed and covered in about an entire roll of packaging tape, and large packages like this wouldn't be coming as often. mostly letters/small packages.

4. would a UPS store box be best for maximum privacy, or one by a smaller, locally owned private mail box provider?

my friend plans to open it up on the premise of an ebay business, using the business name as the addressee. he seems to think that this would make frequent receipt/sending of packages less noticable. obviously he would most likely still have to provide ID, but the PO box he currently has is in his real name (seems like a very bad idea IMO, he's not quite sure how to get around it though since most places in his area seem to require ID)

please keep in mind he has done a good amount of research on this subject, and is just looking for some extra input. any helpful feedback will be appreciated.

I'm not sure, but I think the USPS would need a warrent to search your package, and the UPS wouldn't.

If possible I would say to just mail it to his house. This makes it less suspicious and it is easier to get out of a situation if it seems sketchy.

swim work for a package distributing agency. UPS wont check your shit unless its leaking or has fumes coming from it.

Note though if I have a package come by that smells like da dankadank i'd take it off the line and take the goodies.

dont use po boxes.

yeah i know this. that's why i'm asking, USPS would still be delivering the package, but the private mailbox would be at the UPS store, (who took over like all the chains, like mailboxes etc, etc,)

swim work for a package distributing agency. UPS wont check your shit unless its leaking or has fumes coming from it.

Note though if I have a package come by that smells like da dankadank i'd take it off the line and take the goodies.

dont use po boxes.

thanks for the info dude. can dogs smell chronic through 2 vacuum seals, a bunch of bags, and a shitload of tape?

otherwise, my friend isn't getting anything that is commonly smelled for by dogs.

yeah i know this. that's why i'm asking, USPS would still be delivering the package, but the private mailbox would be at the UPS store, (who took over like all the chains, like mailboxes etc, etc,)



thanks for the info dude. can dogs smell chronic through 2 vacuum seals, a bunch of bags, and a shitload of tape?

otherwise, my friend isn't getting anything that is commonly smelled for by dogs.
Nothing gets through a vacuum. That's what makes it a vacuum. The main worry with vac sealed packages is molecules sticking to the outsides of the package, which would alert a sniffing dog. But if everything was cleaned well between layers, and the packager wore gloves, did it in a sterile room AWAY from other drugs, and did it in a sterile area, then yeah, it would be reasonably clean.


That's what fucks you though, shit on the outside of it.

ahh thanks a lot SN. makes me feel a lot better about that.

so if things are going through USPS, and the dogs cant smell it, is it virtually impossible for them to get a warrant to open my friend's package? this would make me feel much better about PO boxes, because most of the stings/CD's ive read about, USPS had dogs smell it, got a warrant, opened, resealed, and delivered. if the dog's can't smell it, i don't see how they could get a warrant, other than if the package broke open or some shit (not happening)

i've seen a lot of people on various forums talking about how UPS store boxes are generally more legit than PO boxes, but these were all from 2003-2005, so things could be quite different now.

the biggest question i have is #1 (although answers to all would be nice), and that is, does my friend using a UPS store box give UPS the right to search it without a warrant, even though USPS is the primary handler/deliverer?

I would assume that no, if you have USPS mail delivered to ANY location, NO ONE can open it but you, or the authorities, on proper suspicion. Otherwise, it's a federal offense. BUT, your friend needs to check his contract or what have you that he signed when he GOT the box at UPS, because he may very well have signed away his right to privacy.


In general, private couriers fucking suck for this kind of thing. There is another three letter one that is great for shipping chemicals, but that's neither here nor there.

alright thanks SN. ill be sure to have him check out the contract well.

he already paid $40 for a PO box and he'd rather not go buy another, so it seems like a PO box would be the way to go as long as theres nothing that could be smelled by dogs, correct?

i don't see how USPS could get a warrant to open the package to find out what's in it if the dogs can't smell it, unless it breaks open in transit or some random, unlikely shit like that. so, therefor, i don't see how they could set up a sting without being able to legally search the package. anyone know of any other ways that they could?

so am i correct to assume that my friend is relatively safe with a PO box, as long as dogs can't smell the package? like i said before, he's not importing any huge orders, and nearly all of it is domestic.

Yes, and I have a friend who knows about this kind of thing, and has more info you might find useful, I will look it up, gimme a minute.

https://www.totse.com/community/showthread.php?t=1986861

sweet, thanks. makes me feel a lot better about RCs. problem is, most of the things my friend would be ordering are scheduled, but not things commonly smelled for by dogs. the x-ray thing really worries me though...

maybe we could line packages with a cheap material that blocks out x-rays? i remember when i was in the airport, i had 2 lighters in a pocket of my backpack that was fairly thick. i had another that i forgot about, it fell to the bottom of my backpack. security stopped me, searched my backpack, and found the lighter that fell, but they didn't find or even see the other two, and this pocket was not very stealth. this was very interesting to me, i wonder why they couldn't see those other two...

aluminum foil 2 block xrays? or some dense material? as far as i know xrays can only see dense things. i think if they xrayed the chron they would just b like o.... nothing we can see there. it could be all kinds of vegetable matter, like kratom, salvia, ect. maybe the sender should write on the inside "SALVIA DIVINORUM" ?

I work at a UPS Store.

And we've done one bust because it was a large scale smuggling of khat by some africans. We chose to do that to cover our asses. (called the feds).
While I am not going to be specific about it, I will say this: If you were to send a package full of illegal substances to a mailbox at this UPS store, you have almost no chance of being caught. We frankly dont give a shit.

We also don't fuck with your package. All UPS Stores/MBS Etc. are individually owned however. We are not UPS, you just buy a little box which has its own street adress and basically a suite number or PMB (post mail box, not po box) number. So as far as the store itself goes, your safe.

Also, most locations accept packages without any personal info for 5 bucks.

The UPS Store makes you fill out the exact same paperwork for the exact same sized boxes as USPS locations but they charge you a fuckload more.

And with the one I had at the UPS store, the dude running the store saw I had ordered a water pipe (from England), tore open my package, broke the pipe, stole half my free grinder, then resealed the package... just to give me a notice that if I continued to receive items "of that nature" he would "terminate services and contact the authorities".

Thats fucked dude. Maybe the UPS stores are different were you are, but here, we have are own forms for shipping. But when we ship USPS packages (we do offer it) we literally just drive the box over to the post office and charge you a huge retail. We cant fuck with USPS processes, then they won't let us use them.

sounds like my friend is just going to stick with his PO box.

one thing he is really worried about, though, is these x-rays. how big of a threat do these pose?

Thanks for the link stupid noob.

I would still say ship it to your house. And the x-rays shouldn't be a real threat, as long as your packages are fairly small.

this is about my friend, not me :)

The main point that was stressed to ME was never have a set schedule of deliveries, never use next day, proper packaging, and you should be fine. Or your friend.

I am pretty sure the only thing that can block xrays is lead. They will see right through foil. If they even use an xray machine.

Take his ass to court. It was a water pipe for tobacco use only. If it didnt have illicit residue then it was completely legal. He can contact the athorities all he wants but what you did is not illegal.

Was the packaged shipped ups or usps? Because if it was usps that is a federal offense and a felony, so you should be the one contacting athorities if that is the case.

Well i think that the xrays cant see through some dense materials. Once i had a big sharp pair of scissors in my backpack and i got through 4 airport security checks without them being confiscated, because they were in a pocket with a ton of batteries. So you could block it from an xray but i dont know how practical it would be.

My MOM always told me that vacuum sealed in an envelope addressed to me placed in a flat-rate envelope sent to my house address is the best and safest way. I'm not sure, but I think if you have mail in mail, they won't search the inside mail.

Was the packaged shipped ups or usps? Because if it was usps that is a federal offense and a felony, so you should be the one contacting athorities if that is the case.

It was UK Airmail to USPS.

I'd take him to court but, though he didn't know it, I was a minor. So I was pretty much just fucked.

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