A series of Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to police forces and government bodies have revealed that there were 7,983 suspicious parcels reported in 2023.
Furthermore, it was found that 3,230 (40%) of these parcels contained hazardous, dangerous or illegal items.
Solutions provider Quadient, which submitted the requests, also noted that 37% of all government bodies did not report all the suspicious packages they received – suggesting the true scale of the issue is even higher.
Anthony Coo, product head at Quadient, said: “We are almost certainly only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Organisations don’t report all suspicious post to the police: if a package doesn’t look suspect, turns out to not be harmful, or if the organisation or individual thinks they can ‘shrug off’ the contents, then why report it?
“However, there is still the risk of harm: whether to a targeted individual, a victim of an indiscriminate sender, or someone who just happens to handle a parcel. This is especially true for businesses – both in terms of the disruption such a parcel can cause, and the obvious risk to employees.
“An unexpecting receptionist, post room worker, or colleague handing over a package could easily fall victim, especially as we’ve seen that many of these packages are only designed to harm the person opening them.”
The destinations of these reported parcels were fairly evenly split between business (36%), private (33%), and ‘other’ locations (31%) such as public spaces. Quadient found little evidence of seasonal trends in the reporting of suspicious parcels, saying that because of this, organisations must be vigilant all year-round.
Some examples of dangerous parcels sent in 2023 that have been brought to light by the FoI requests include a package containing a Stanley blade, which was deemed to be sent with the intention of harming the recipient.
Coo continued: “The delivery of hazardous, dangerous, and otherwise harmful substances to addresses poses a threat to the safety of everyone there: whether a family at home, or colleagues in an office.
“In the case of businesses, employers have a duty of care to protect their employees from potentially harmful packages. As a result, making sure there are processes in place to identify, report and quarantine potentially hazardous deliveries, such as security scanners, is a must.
“Beyond this, society as a whole should make sure it is reporting hazardous or threatening communications, and not just brushing off those that seem less egregious. Understanding the issue is the only way we can begin responding to it.”
This revelation follows reports that illegal substances had been sent by mail from online stores. ITV News’ investigation into illegal drug websites found that some sites were advertising that their products were sent via mail.
It claimed that a statement in the ‘shipping’ section of the no longer active Kanas.shop read: “We use Royal Mail to fulfil our deliveries.”
When approached by ITV News with this information, a Royal Mail spokesperson responded by saying: “We often work closely with police forces and encourage our postmen and women to report any suspicious items to management, which will then be referred to the authorities.”
