What began as a site visitors cease for weed led authorities in Georgia to uncover a check-cashing and mail fraud scheme. 

What Occurred: The Elite Blackhawk Squad – sure, Clayton County has a site visitors crew with this title and considered one of their specialties is monitoring down weed on the transfer – pulled a person over as a result of he was speaking on his cellphone and smoking what they stated seemed to be a “marijuana cigar,” which one can solely assume was a larger-than-normal joint.

Newly-elected Sheriff Levon Allen stated in a press launch that, upon search of the joint-puffing gentleman’s automobile, the elite squad discovered a plastic FedEx FDX package deal containing 54 checks, all post-marked from New York, totaling almost $66,000. Investigators additionally realized that 30-year-old Marquavius Shanard Williams was wished by the Atlanta Police Division for aggravated assault, probation violation, possession of MDMA and possessing a firearm.

These Checks? 

The Blackhawk Squad contacted one sufferer throughout their investigation, who instructed them she didn’t know Williams nor how he’d gotten his palms on considered one of her checks.

How Do The Test Thieves Do It? Organized Crime

Georgia State College criminologist David Maimon instructed Channel 2 Motion Information that checks are posted on-line by criminals, for different criminals to make use of.

“They take footage, add them on platforms and add them on the market,” Maimon stated in an interview final yr. “It’s not a bunch of adolescents stealing your mail. We’re speaking organized crime teams who on the finish of the day know precisely what they’re doing.”

In the meantime, the U.S. Postal Service experiences an uptick in mail theft with greater than 25,000 incidents reported to this point in 2023, based on knowledge launched on Could 12. Robberies in opposition to mail carriers are additionally on the rise, officers stated. “We’re doubling down on our efforts to guard our Postal workers and the safety of the mail,” stated U.S. Postal Inspection Service Chief Gary Barksdale, including that the USPS plans to harden targets, “each bodily and digital to make them much less fascinating to thieves.”