Feds Arrest 4 UPS Employees for Drug, Vape Pen Trafficking Ring

Employees with the United Parcel Service reportedly ran a drug and vaping pen trafficking ring, according to the Tucson Sentinel.

Federal agents and Tucson police officers on Tuesday seized cars, drugs and 50,000 counterfeit vape pens of types linked to recent deaths. Four UPS employees, including drivers and supervisors, and seven others were arrested.

Special agents with Homeland Security Investigations discovered the alleged thieves were using “sophisticated methods and techniques” to skip law enforcement measures to “identify and intercept parcels containing contraband,” per the Sentinel.

The men face charges of possession, drug possession for sale, money laundering and conspiracy, according to ICE spokesman Yasmeen Pitts-O'Keefe. 

"The vape pens that were confiscated are exactly the kind that the CDC warned about," Cpt. John Leavitt, a commander of the Counter Narcotics Alliance for TPD, told the Sentinel. "They are the pens that are likely implicated in the death and illnesses related to THC cartridges across the country."

The Centers for Disease Control warned of vaping after widespread cases of lung injury.

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