Tracking as an indicator of a potential CD

Hey folks,

    I want to share some experiences of mine and offer some potentially useful information on how to predict a controlled delivery. Firstly I should say that I have been doing this a long time, almost ten years now. When I first began, neither Tor nor GPG was used. All business was conducted through clearnet forums. Oddly enough, scammers were much rarer in those days than they are today, partially due to a tight knit and vetted community.

    Anyways, in all those years of both buying and selling online, I have had two experiences with controlled deliveries, one of which was successful and one that was not. In both cases I was able to determine that a CD was being planned by noticing inconsistencies in the tracking.

    The first time this occurred was for a rather large international shipment of acid. I'm not going to go into specific details, but I'll say it was enough to place you in prison for the large remainder of your life. I periodically checked tracking on the package, and on one day noticed something truly bizarre. Upon entering customs, the tracking had updated to say "this package has been pulled aside for further investigation". Why they would actually list this, I truly have no idea. It was pulled down shortly after and corrected to the usual "package has entered NYC customs" stuff. I can only assume this was an error on their end, perhaps a miscommunication between LE and the USPS workers. Needless to say I warned the people receiving this package not to sign for it, and they denied the delivery which was attempted the next day. The feds eventually identified themselves and tried to pressure the individuals into receiving, but were unable to do so.

    Now for the second incident. In this case the shipment was for a few lbs of domestic pot, sent priority. Again I checked the tracking, and saw that it was scanned into the system as it left its destination. The tracking then did not update again for the next three days as it made its way to it destination. I found this to be peculiar, and thought the package might be lost, until my receiver got an email from UPS stating that it had arrived (no the pack was not shipped via UPS, just to a UPS mailbox). I knew that USPS is often sloppy with tracking, but in all my many experiences I have never seen such a lack of tracking updates. At any rate, despite my heavy suspicions, I sent someone to recon the area. The plan was not to pick up the package, but only to assess the situation. Despite that, this individual decided to obtain the package. Low and behold, they were pulled over shortly upon leaving the scene, right by an empty school parking lot teeming with officers. Ultimately, this case was tossed due to some sloppyness on the part of the investigators, but that's beside the point.

    Anyways my point here is that tracking can be used to notice potential mistakes on the part of LE that might help to keep you out of jail. It is truly amazing how many mistakes LE will make; but the old saying is true, in that they can make as many as they want, and you can only make one. I want to clarify that I am not at all saying that if there is an issue with tracking, it means that a CD will certainly occur. Its just one extra bit of information you can pay attention to. Also, as a reminder, make sure when checking tracking that you are not using the Tor network (exit nodes are flagged) or any method that can be traced back to your IP.

    Honestly it goes against my better judgement to share any information like this that might make me a target to certain readers, but I thought it may be useful in keeping other people out of trouble. Stay safe.


Comments


[3 Points] None:

[deleted]


[2 Points] Theeconomist1:

the tracking had updated to say "this package has been pulled aside for further investigation"

Its entirely possible that they get a lot of "false positives" - ie, they pull packs and maybe only a small percentage actually has contraband. If this is the case, this could be a perfectly normal status and not needed to be hidden - alhtough obviously anyone who knows its contraband will get sketched. So who knows. Just a thought - I'm not terribly knowledgable with international shipping.

But you are right, LE is a bureaucracy and they make mistakes. THey drop the ball, fuck up, etc. Often an investigation may start off sloppy b/c they don't know what they are dealing with and perhaps only later realize that they may be onto something big. Then they tighten things up.

I think this is very helpful but obviously there could be other scenarios that are problematic as you noted. And likewise, if tracking doesn't pick up for 3-4 days, don't automatically jump to seized conclusion. I'm sure this happens quite a bit. But exactly as you said - its one of the indicators you use to judge a situation.

Thanks for sharing.


[2 Points] deez_knutz:

What is your opinion on checking through a 3rd party tracking app like 'Packagetrackr.com'? And, is that safe using Tor?


[2 Points] CacklePhone:

So I should be checking random tracking numbers that mean nothing (not my own) all day every day on TOR. And so should everyone else.


[1 Points] None:

[deleted]


[1 Points] furthur2:

What do you make of the timing of updates? I've had some packages where updates are consistently delayed by a few hours, but when they are posted, they seem to reflect the correct time (e.g., receiving an update at 7PM for an event that occurred at 9AM). In many cases though I've had updates posted all at once or randomly after the update that the package was delivered.


[1 Points] DexOyama:

Can someone explain why we should not check tracking through tor ? It seems like a good idea to check it through tor.


[1 Points] horses091292:

OP thanks for the post, its helpful.

Question: do you know what may have caused the international acid pack to be profiled at customs? Was the vendor getting profiled, was your address maybe flagged, was it a new address that maybe caused the pack to be flagged? Or was it simply poor stealth/packaging?

Also, had the ups store drop already received packs successfully before this? Or was it a new box that maybe got flagged?


[1 Points] MrCrappy57:

My associate had a pack seized and was contacted by postal inspectors later. While it wasn't a CD I thought it might be useful to note- the tracking was normal until the end "Undeliverable as addressed".