Suspicious packages can be opened and must then be handed over to the police.
That is what the Bundestag decided - in certain situations.
In the
future,
postmen
will be allowed to open parcels - under
special conditions
.
This also applies to
Deutsche Post
.
If in doubt, they even have to hand them over to the
police
.
The
Bundestag
has passed a corresponding change in the
law
.
Frankfurt - In the
Corona
lockdown
*,
online trading is
flourishing
.
Citizens order a large number of products on the Internet: from clothing to books to food.
This is shown by an evaluation by the Federal Statistical Office, which refers to December 2020.
"The Internet and mail order businesses have benefited greatly from the [...] business closings," it says.
But the
trade
in the
Internet
is not only on publicly accessible pages, but also in the
darknet
strengthened instead.
Illegal
drugs
,
weapons
and
explosives
are often sold there
.
This is another reason why the Bundestag has now
decided to change the
law
.
It is about the mailing law by which particular
employees of postal service
of
Deutsche Post
are affected.
Deutsche Post: Postmen have to bring suspicious parcels to the police
Specifically, it is about the new option that
postmen
are allowed to
open parcels
in case of doubt
.
However, there must be a
dangerous situation
for this.
Postal confidentiality
may only be
violated
in such a case
.
Paragraph four of Paragraph 39 of the Postal Shipping Act has been changed: According to this, "postal service providers may exceptionally gain knowledge of the content [...], among other things, in order to secure the content of damaged mailings, to the recipient or sender of an illegible mailing that cannot be identified in any other way identify or avert physical dangers emanating from a mail item for people and things, ”says the Federal Council's draft law.
Companies |
German Post AG |
|---|---|
Headquarters |
Bonn |
Employee |
546,924 (as of December 31, 2019) |
founding year |
1995 |
Deutsche Post: Whether the parcel can be opened depends on a number of factors
Whether
postman
the corresponding
packet
are allowed to open, is also related with whether it is damaged or not.
Opening is only permitted if there is damage or the package cannot be delivered.
In recent years,
Deutsche Post
employees
and service providers have often had
drugs
or
weapons
discovered in damaged
parcels
, reports Daniela Ludwig (CSU),
drug commissioner for
the
federal government
.
At that time there was no binding legal situation for such situations - now there was.
Deutsche Post employees are also obliged to hand over a package with illegal content to the police.
In such cases, Ludwig speaks of
"chance finds"
.
+
The law now obliges postmen to hand over suspicious parcels to the police.
(Archive photo)
© Jens Büttner / dpa
Ludwig is pleased with the progress: "
Drug trafficking
on the Internet is flourishing in these times and is
constantly
presenting challenges to
prosecution
and the judiciary." According
to the 45-year-old, the
change in the Postal Shipping Act is an important step in the fight against
drug crime
.
"If, with this law, we manage to intercept even one parcel before it arrives at the recipient, then the effort will be worth it," she added.
(tu)
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List of rubric lists: © Arnulf Hettrich / Imago Images
