On March 17, 2022, a Bureau of Prisons employee was diligently inspecting the day’s deliveries in the mailroom of USP Thomson, a federal prison in Illinois. As the officer sorted through hundreds of packages and letters addressed to inmates, he began sweating and feeling short of breath. Soon, he was vomiting and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital. Tests revealed the officer had unknowingly come into contact with 19 pieces of mail saturated in a potent amphetamine.

The postal system is the central battleground in the forever war between drug dealers and corrections officials. Recently, the tide has turned in favor of traffickers, who have innovated new ways of infusing dangerous narcotics directly into everything from children’s drawings to love letters. Paper, ink, and stamps are all vehicles for contraband. There have even been reports of inmates rolling joints with family photos laced with fentanyl.