BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Nearly two dozen indictments were handed out following a yearlong federal investigation into mail theft.

Operation Broken Mailbox is an ongoing effort involving a surge of postal inspectors and analysts working with local law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute stolen mail offenses.

Operation Mailbox was initiated following postal customer complaints about mail thieves who were attacking collection boxes via “fishing” techniques, prying open boxes in post office lobbies, breaking into postal delivery trucks, and counterfeiting postal keys to compromise collection boxes.

The Postal Inspection Service deployed postal inspectors and analysts with strong mail theft investigation backgrounds from around the country to the Eastern District of California beginning in April 2013 to work with postal inspectors already assigned to Sacramento, Fresno, and Bakersfield.

Among the cases developed in the course of the operation were the following:

Sacramento: Postal inspectors secured indictments of three defendants who obtained stolen mail by breaking into NDCBUs in Elk Grove and Sacramento. One of the defendants used her position as a sales clerk at a retail establishment to open fraudulent accounts and use account information obtained from stolen mail. Postal inspectors also secured indictments of five other defendants conducting NDCBU break-ins in Rancho Cordova, Elverta, Rocklin, Roseville, Natomas, Rio Linda, Elkhorn, and Antelope. Several search warrants resulted in the recovery of hundreds of pieces of stolen mail and stolen postal keys.

Fresno: Postal inspectors conducted a probation search on a recidivist believed to be involved in NDCBU break-ins in Fresno and Madera and recovered stolen mail and six counterfeit postal keys.

Bakersfield: Postal inspectors identified a collection box fishing group and conducted surveillance that resulted in the arrest of three defendants for mail theft. Searches subsequent to the arrests recovered a large volume of stolen mail and several postal keys. The investigation resulted in the indictment of five suspects.

To date, Operation Broken Mailbox resulted in at least 22 arrests, 33 searches, the recovery of ten counterfeit or stolen postal keys, and the identification of more than 2,100 victims and nearly $400,000 in losses. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service worked closely with several law enforcement agencies, including the Sacramento Police Department, The Bakersfield Police Department, the Elk Grove Police Department, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, and the Placer County Sheriff’s Office. The work of Operation Broken Mailbox is ongoing.

via 23ABC News – Bulk mail theft investigation leads to 3 arrests in Bakersfield