RCMP looking for rural mail thieves

Neighbours around the region are reporting break-ins to rural Canada Post super-boxes. Five locations have so far been called in to police, all of them targeted sometime between late Saturday and early Sunday.

"They broke in. They did not use a key," said RCMP spokesman Cpl. Craig Douglass. "The break-ins affected 160 boxes, combined."

The locations determined so far included two in the Buckhorn area, two on 15 Mile Road and one in the Mud River area.

"We are hoping people might remember seeing suspicious vehicles, suspicious people, something that was out of the ordinary in those locations during that time," said Douglass. "Was there anything that caught your attention? Anyone there who wasn't someone you recognized from the neighbourhood, or a vehicle you weren't familiar with?"

Theft of mail is a criminal offense, as itemized in section 356 of the Criminal Code of Canada. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison.

Common reasons for thieves targeting mail are obtaining any goods that might be in parcels, any money that might be in envelopes, and personal information that might be cobbled together by the perpetrator to use as a false identity, allowing further crimes to be committed in the name of the victim.

Canada Post has received criticism over the super-boxes, otherwise known as community mail boxes, because so many postal slots are available to thieves, but in response it is pointed out how strongly they are secured (it takes time, tools and dedicated intent to break into these structures). Furthermore, individual household mail boxes have no security at all.

Earlier this year, it was reported that the Greater Vancouver area was the location for about half of the mail theft incidents in all of Canada. Police arrested a woman in Langley who was allegedly in possession of 15,000 pieces of stolen mail, indicating one person can potentially be responsible for significant amounts of this sort of crime.

"We believe it is likely that these five incidents are probably the work of the same thieves, driving around to the spots that were targeted," said Douglass of these most recent local break-ins.

Anyone who has information on these incidents is asked to call the detachment at Prince George RCMP at 250-561-3300 or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Tips can also be provided online at www.pgcrimestoppers.bc.ca, or by texting CRIMES using keyword "pgtips."