However Did They Mail Those Bombs

[Me.]

I couldn't just plop one in a mailbox, which are not, at least here, able to accommodate packages and if you brought it to a window you get questioned about contents and the postal worker wouldn't put six stamps (is that even enough postage?) they'd put one strip with the postage amount on it. You could send it from a business I suppose but still, that doesn't really compute. So how were they able to get them in the mail.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

1. Most post offices have a mailbox with a drawer to place larger packages in, as opposed to a slot.

If there is sufficient postage already on the package, I'm assuming it would go ahead and be mailed, albeit not priority mail.

[dawg day]

11. If it's more than 13 oz, it doesn't matter where it's deposited. It gets sent back to the return

address. (That might be how the Holder bomb went back to DWS, because the bomber put her office as the return address.) If it looks suspicious, they bring in the postal inspectors to open it.

The post office has all sorts of ways to connect the sender-- like you can use a credit card and a Stamps.com account, but your identifying inf is embedded in the code.

Or you take it up to the counter and you're on camera and you have to answer questions.

Or you use the automatic mail station, but you have to use a credit card so it can be traced back.

My thought is that the bomb weighed less than 13 ounces, or the originating post office screwed up and passed the packages on against the regulations.

[demmiblue]

27. I'm guessing the Holder one was sent back for postage due (not enough stamps).

The Biden one was postage due, but not sent back yet when it was found.



Given the postage + postage due in this case, it was well under well under 13 oz (assuming 1 stamp = 1 ounce).

[Ms. Toad]

36. And the return address is the secondary target.

So if you're short on stamps, or the package is too heavy, it is still sent to one of wo targets target.

Stamps bought in a grocery store or Walmart do not contain identifying information of the person who bought them.

[Captain Stern]

41. Interesting. Seems like a free way to send packages that are over 13 oz.

Does this mean that if I wanted to send you a package for free, that I could just put your address as the return address, and my address as the sender's address, then go drop it off? If I'm understanding you correctly, they would then send the package "back" to you.

[Cal Carpenter]

2. They usually have small-package-friendly drop boxes in the post office

If you use the kiosk to print postage, or use the proper amount of stamps, you can drop it in there without going to the counter.

[madaboutharry]

3. There is a post office counter at the supermarket

and anyone can hand a package off with postage already on it and they just put it in the mail bin.

Maybe new procedures are needed given the times we find ourselves in.

[Me.]

4. Thanks All

Interesting.

[left-of-center2012]

5. You can mail packages via US mail at a UPS store

I do that as it's closer than my PO.

They accept shipment and receive via USPS, FedEx, and UPS.
I've sent Priority mail packages out of there.

[dawg day]

12. But you use a credit card, probably. That''s where the identifying info is.

[suffragette]

6. Piggyback question. How many arrived

at destination and how many were intercepted at post office?

[Cha]

7. I couldn't find anything on that yet, but..

Just saw this in my research, though..

Investigation Into Pipe Bombs Turns Toward Florida as More Trump Critics Are Targeted


Police officers in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Manhattan, where a pipe bomb addressed to the actor Robert De Niro was found on Thursday

snip//

The focus on Florida came as law-enforcement officials around the country were scrambling for another day to respond to the mysterious and repeated discovery of the crude devices contained in similar packages. Three more devices were found in Delaware and New York
the F.B.I. said Thursday morning. Two were addressed to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., a Delaware resident, and a third to the actor Robert De Niro, who lives and works in Lower Manhattan.

snip//

The continuing wave of bombs has prompted an intense, nationwide investigation into whether people who have criticized the president and been vilified by the right are being targeted***. None of the devices has so far exploded on its own, and investigators have been trying to determine whether the devices were indeed capable of detonating.

But at a news conference on Thursday, the New York City police commissioner, James P. O’Neill, said the packages contained “live devices” that should be “treated with the utmost seriousness.”

snip//

Though investigators initially believed that some of the packages were delivered by hand or by courier, they have now concluded that all 10 were likely sent through the mail, a person briefed on the matter said.

Investigators are now focusing on Florida because an analysis of information collected by the United States Postal Service indicated that many of the packages were mailed from the state. The Postal Service records images of mail that comes into its system. As part of the investigation, officials have been searching those images in an effort to determine where the packages were sent from as well as to identify and catch any other possible explosive devices by the bomber or bombers.


Much More.. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/nyregion/bomb-explosive-device.html

*** The Targets have been "vilified" by the so-called "president"

The NYT gets it wrong again.

[Me.]

15. Color Me Not Surprised

The NYT has an identity crisis, can't decide where they stand on all this.

[Cha]

16. Yeah, blame anybody but where the Blame

Clearly lands on..

Trump accused of inciting violence after pipe bomb alerts

With midterm elections less than two weeks away, Trump reacted on Wednesday to the rapid fire spate of bomb alerts by first calling for unity, but then reverting to attacking the media.

https://www.news24.com/World/News/trump-accused-of-inciting-violence-after-pipe-bomb-alerts-20181025

Link to tweet

[Ms. Toad]

8. It really boggles my mind that there are so many people

unable to figure out how one mails multiple packages without going to the USPS customer service desk.

i really thought people were joking when threads like this started yesterday. I mail packages all the time without interacting with anyone at the USPS. Any ordinary kitchen scale + rudimentary math can tell you how much postage to put on the package, buy stamps at your local supermarket (or from the electronic dispenser at the post office), make sure you have a return address other than your own (preferably a secondary target) so it gets delivered somewhere, then drop it (or them) in any mailbox (there are 185 in my city that accept packages of the size these appear to be)/hand it to a third party service that mails packages, etc.

[Me.]

13. Ms. Toad, Ms. Toad, Ms. Toad

I have yet to see a supermarket here that sells stamps and yes you can calculate online but..as for dropping them in any mailbox...nope. Those little slits for letters are barely wide enough to accept a thick letter. As for those dispensers, at the P.O. only, they have to be kept filled with both stamps and change. Clearly, all things are not equal when it comes to mail service.

[demmiblue]

18. I guess not.

I have never been to a supermarket that didn't sell stamps, the mail boxes don't have tiny slits (they are big enough to put 50 letters in at once, if you wanted), and there is a self-service area for packages at the post office (just weigh, pay, attach postage and drop in the box).

Hunh... perhaps you live in a more rural community.

[Me.]

24. :)

NYC

[Me.]

29. WE Used To Have To Have Those Big Mailboxes Too

No longer because of... worry about bombs and theft.

[Kaleva]

33. Still have them in most every town where I live.

[Ms. Toad]

22. Every supermarket around here -

and many other stores (Dollar General, for one, which is pretty ubiquitous beyond my state). You may not be aware of it if you aren't used to sending things by mail. Ask at the checkout register the next time you're there.

The maiboxes I've seen can accept packages of the size of these bombs - based on photos which included the enelope for size feference.

No clue why you believe keeping dispensers filled with stamps and change is relevant to the discussion.

[Me.]

25. Well If As You Suggest

one could get the needed postage from them, that is pretty important

[Ms. Toad]

26. Here's a list of common places stamps are sold

https://iwanttobuystamps.com/

Here's WalMart info, specifically: https://www.walmart.com/c/kp/postage-stamps (This is the buy and ship list - the local stores most likely only have books of forever stamps.)

[Me.]

28. Thanks

Of those shown...only Staples is viable, haven't checked. Walmart..trip advisor says the closest one is in NJ but I think White Plains may be a better option. Anyway, the point is my original question because it would not be easy in any way shape or form to mail those pipe bombs from here and if I did they would've been able to locate me in hours rather than days simple due to the info they can glean from where and how something was mailed.

[Whiskeytide]

39. Wouldn't such a package fit easily in ...

... one of these?

[USALiberal]

17. Not really. nt

[onlyadream]

30. It has to be under 13 ounces for first class

If more, then it has to be sent priority, which means a label and tracking info.

I can only see this done if under 13oz. Then it’s easy.

[Ms. Toad]

32. It is trivial to get around that requirement.

Stick the appropriate quantity of stamps on it, put your secondary target as the return address, and your primary target as the actual address, and dump it in a collection site (mailbox, 3rd party drop off, the big bin at the post office)

The rule is enforced by returning larger packages to the sender. Since the return address is not your actual address, it will be returned to whoever you listed as the return address. If they bother to catch and enforce it - otherwise, it will reach its intended target.

(And you don't even have to have the appropriate quantity of stamps on it, since the USPS returns items to the sender when the postage is short, so the same practice will "return" your bomb to the secondary target.)

[onlyadream]

43. You're right. Nt

[hedda_foil]

9. They were small enough to fit into a medium size padded manilla envelope. Could go in any mailbox.

[marylandblue]

10. Stamped packages over 13 oz. must be brought to the window

This rule is specifically to prevent bombs being sent through the mail. Someone sent working bombs through the mail years ago. There was the Unabomber, but I think there was another bomber after that, then they made the rule.

I don't think it is strictly enforced though. Now it will be.

[Me.]

14. Right

and they are very strict about rules here.

[Kaleva]

20. It's a rule not strictly enforced

Based on discussions I read at various sites on this subject. The posts were made before October of this year.

[Ms. Toad]

23. No person is stationed at the deposit box.

(either within the PO, or freestanding ones) to prevent it, though.

Although the rule requires such packages to be brought to the window, if you put someone else's return address on it - when they discover it they will return it to that someone else (e.g. DWS). If they don't discover it, it will go to the addressee. In either case, you've accomplished your purpose - and the rule did not present any significant barrier.

[LAS14]

19. Simple. It sounds like they weighted less than 13 oz. nt

[Kaleva]

21. The packages look small enough to put in a postal drop box.

[GemDigger]

31. This might answer a little bit..

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211322032

[Me.]

35. That Was A Good Read

we'll see what the feds come up with.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

34. If you're in NYC, and there are none of those big blue

mail boxes which have a pretty large sized opening, and none of your grocery stores or drugstores sell stamps, then you are missing out on some pretty fundamental services everyone else has.

I know there's a place inside my several post offices (here in Santa Fe) where you can weigh and determine necessary postage for small packages. I've never used those, so I'm not terribly familiar with them, but the next time I'm inside one of them I might take a look at how they work.

Or, as has already been pointed out, a small scale and looking up postage amounts would be pretty easy.

[Demwolv]

37. Employee?

Has anyone thought of it being an usps employee? Could that be possible?

[Me.]

38. THese Days...Anything Is Possible

we'll see

[spanone]

40. hand delivered?

[Me.]

42. THey Considered That For A Minute

or a courier but seem to have ruled that out