Effective April 9, 2020, the Postal Service™ is revising the Administrative Support Manual, to reflect changes in policy for the authority of Office of Inspector General Special Agents.
Administrative Support Manual (ASM)
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2 Audits and Investigations
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27 Security
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274 Mail Security
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274.2 Opening, Searching, and Reading Mail Generally Prohibited
274.21 Mail Sealed Against Inspection
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[Revise the text of item f. to read as follows:]
f. A postal inspector or OIG Special Agent acting under 274.911d.
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274.3 Permissible Detention of Mail
274.31 Sealed Mail Generally Not Detained
[Revise the text of item a. to read as follows:]
a. A postal inspector or OIG Special Agent acting diligently and without avoidable delay, upon reasonable suspicion, for a brief period of time, to assemble evidence sufficient to satisfy the probable-cause requirement for a search warrant under 274.6.
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274.9 Mail Security, Law Enforcement, and Other Government Agencies
274.91 Customs and Border Protection
274.911 Inbound Mail
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[Revise the text of item d. to read as follows:]
d. Controlled Delivery of Drugs in Sealed Mail. When a postal inspector or OIG special agent decides, at the request of a federal, military, state, or local narcotics agent, to make a controlled postal delivery of a sealed mail article that the Customs and Border Protection personnel have opened under 274.91, and that the Customs and Border Protection has determined through a reliable field test or reliable laboratory examination to contain illegal narcotics or dangerous drugs, the postal inspector may reopen the article without a search warrant. The inspector may reopen the article without a warrant only to prepare the article for such a controlled delivery in such way or ways as lawfully and reasonably aid in the investigation of the crime of importing such substances through the mail. No correspondence inside such an article may be read or divulged without a search warrant as described in 274.6.
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The Postal Service will incorporate these revisions into the next edition of the online ASM, which is available on the PolicyNet website:
n Go to blue.usps.gov.
n In the left-hand column, click Essential Links, and then click PolicyNet.
n Go to the right-hand side under “Published Forms and Directives.”
n Click Manuals.
The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet website is blue.usps.gov/cpim.
— Deputy General Counsel,
Office of Inspector General, 4-9-20
