UK Royal Mail worker jailed for stealing £1.2m of cannabis

The man, who worked at a Royal Mail logistics centre, would identify parcels suspected of containing drugs before removing them and relabelling them for redelivery to other addresses, including his own.

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[Grumbleweed]

a vision of an unscrupulous postie sat with his feet up chonging a 3 sheeter....

I posted that line on the first page of my first 'hi' post when I joined.

Have I grumbled about red tape on the Medicann boxes yet?

 

[S.O.H™]

I posted that line on the first page of my first 'hi' post when I joined.

Have I grumbled about red tape on the Medicann boxes yet?

The obvious, "Ooh Hello, it's not rocket science, it's common knowledge, what's inside the box red tape?"

 

[Hazy-Haze]

My postie knows and i'm always waiting for it to arrive on those days. They apparently had someone nicking them at one of the depots as he mentioned about it a few deliveries back. Said they know which packages are MC, not from the smell, but from some part of the tag system on the packages. I guess there aren't that many dispensaries in the UK and each one probably has it's own unique tag for it's franking machine. IPS used to use DPD, no idea if they still do, but i've had no issue with Royal Mail. But they now send out with the local postie. First two deliveries were done by a husband and wife team and they properly made me jump through hoops, like give them a code, took a picture with me holding the package and then made me sign for it. Not any more.

 

[S.O.H™]

Red Tape on a small'ish cardboard box is common knowledge to be unlicensed controlled drugs.

 

[Hazy-Haze]

None of mine come with red tape on. Just a plain cardboard box.

 

[GreenRed]

I am almost sure he wasn't stealing MC in these amounts. Pharmacies and customers would have made complaints much earlier and in great numbers.

Guy was likely identifying the BM parcels, like who is going to complain about those gone missing? The dealer or the druggie?

 

[S.O.H™]

I am almost sure he wasn't stealing MC in these amounts. Pharmacies and customers would have made complaints much earlier and in great numbers.

Guy was likely identifying the BM parcels, like who is going to complain about those gone missing? The dealer or the druggie?

F me ur investigations are insightful and thought provoking. I reckon ur bang-on.

This operation ran for about a year between 2024 and 2025. It unraveled in December 2025 when Thames Valley Police raided locations tied to him—including his home, vehicle, and a storage locker. Officers uncovered £1,185,420 in cash stashed in his storage unit and another £42,290 at his home, marking the largest cash seizure in the history of Thames Valley Police.

Ali pleaded guilty to the theft of parcels, being concerned in the supply of cannabis, possessing criminal property, and possessing an offensive weapon, resulting in a prison sentence of six years and nine months

 

[Hazy-Haze]

I suspect it was more BM and probably a lot of dark net acquired BM. Stuff that as people say, won't be reported.

What i really don't get with these people is why the hell they stash the money. What point is there in having 1.2 million sat in a storage unit. This guy definitely wasn't a genius.

 

[S.O.H™]

I suspect it was more BM and probably a lot of dark net acquired BM. Stuff that as people say, won't be reported.

What i really don't get with these people is why the hell they stash the money. What point is there in having 1.2 million sat in a storage unit. This guy definitely wasn't a genius.

Innit, as someone who regularly spends all their hard earned wages in less than 5 mins. I could easily spend 1.2 Zillion Kuwaiti Dinar to be honest and still have no savings!!!

 

[Hazy-Haze]

I was thinking more about mixing into a crypto wallet containg ETH or BTC. That seems to be the go to nowadays.

But if you somehow converted it into the currency of an Arab state and you happen to have a semi arabic sounding name, you could simply buy a handful of properties and rent them out. Rent is incoming profit, paid into a Kuwaiti or Emirati bank account, it's far off shore and many Crims seem to like hiding out in the UAE or that region, given certain recent cases.

 

[S.O.H™]

I was thinking more about mixing into a crypto wallet containg ETH or BTC. That seems to be the go to nowadays.

But if you somehow converted it into the currency of an Arab state and you happen to have a semi arabic sounding name, you could simply buy a handful of properties and rent them out. Rent is incoming profit, paid into a Kuwaiti or Emirati bank account, it's far off shore and many Crims seem to like hiding out in the UAE or that region, given certain recent cases.

Starbuck's and Nero do it...

 

[Mernie]

When I read this story I did wonder if Royal Mail could distinguish between packages from licensed pharmacy's and those sent from the black market. With all the hoops you have to jump through I wouldn't be too pleased if the package was delayed or delivered by the Police. Is that a fact that there is a code on the label and does anyone know where it is?

 

[Hazy-Haze]

There is a set of black bars and dots sometimes, on the left of the postage category. It's basically a cross between a QR code and barcode and it has a lot of info attached to it like where it came from. You only see it on places that have their own franking machine, so i'm guessing that when it gets scanned in at the local depot it shows where it came from as well as where it's going. So they know exactly where it came from and a quick google search will tell you what that pharmacy supplies.

BM stuff on the other hand is unlikely packaged well and the smell is probably evident. But not every time. A FOAF had a package come in some years back from someone and it was vacuum sealed and not a single whiff from it. Best guess they vacuum packed it and then wiped it down with a lavender surface cleaner (it smelled slightly of lavender).

 

[GreenRed]

There is a set of black bars and dots sometimes, on the left of the postage category. It's basically a cross between a QR code and barcode and it has a lot of info attached to it like where it came from. You only see it on places that have their own franking machine, so i'm guessing that when it gets scanned in at the local depot it shows where it came from as well as where it's going. So they know exactly where it came from and a quick google search will tell you what that pharmacy supplies.

BM stuff on the other hand is unlikely packaged well and the smell is probably evident. But not every time. A FOAF had a package come in some years back from someone and it was vacuum sealed and not a single whiff from it. Best guess they vacuum packed it and then wiped it down with a lavender surface cleaner (it smelled slightly of lavender).

Nah only the lamest BM vendors send it smelly. Even the low tier ones usually mylar / vacuum press it and then put it in a jiffy, no smell at all. Better ones do dual layers, and use cardboard boxes, sometimes even special delivery. But the "jiffy without sender, with a printed sticker" stuff is fairly common.

Friends in the UK never had any issue getting BM bud delivered. But I also have a friend in the EU who ordered from some cheap German BM dealer and it was indeed sent in like a regular fucking plain paper envelope, he had an unpleasant visit from the po-po...