Last night we reported on the case of mail tampering where postman Brian Luna was found with 5 pieces of mail which he had stuffed in his shoe and shirt pocket. Today Luna appeared in Magistrate's Court where he was charged with five counts of "destroying postal package," and five counts of "opening of packets." He received bail.
And while the law takes its course with Luna, what about those who were the victims of the crime? We tracked down two women whose mail was allegedly found stuffed in Luna's shoe.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
Plues Street residents Beatrice Flowers and Julian Baizar are two of 5 people who had their mail tampered with yesterday. The women say that the police came to their house yesterday inquiring about mail that they were expecting.
Beatrice Flowers,
"They just asked me if I was to get any mail, anything, from Sacred Heart, if I had any contact with Sacred Heart. So I told them that my sister is there so I knew that it was concerning her. So they said they have mail there that was tampered with. As I saw it I knew the writing. I know her writing good and my letter was exactly like hers."
Julian Baizar,
"Police just came and told me a mail came for me and the postman took the mail and I went to the station and they asked me what happened and I told them just what the police told me, which is that I got a mail from Miss May Williams and they thief it so I don't know if any money or what was in there."
While Baizar says she does not know if there was any money in the mail that was found in the possession of the post man, Flowers says that she has been able to verify from her sister in Cayo who sent her a Christmas card, that there were $100 in it. Today even after that loss she is quite calm about the whole matter.
Beatrice Flowers,
"Someone probably needed a little more than I think I needed it. Yes, somebody needed it a little more than how they think I needed it."
Julian Baizar,
"I feel bad about it because we lose our money which we should have gotten"
But even so these victims of mail tampering are not at all unconfident of the postal service. Even though they are more weary.
Beatrice Flowers,
"Like everything its one bad apple, you could say, spoiled the whole basket but there are still decent people working there so its just that somebody got, what's the word-sticky fingers because they enjoy life for what its worth without stealing. That is part of it you know because life is beautiful with what you have, that's what you make of life."
Julian Baizar,
"I am not calm but I can't do nothing because he has already stole it."
Beatrice Flowers,
"I think some more of my mails are somewhere that did not reach me."
Julian Baizar,
"Maybe it could be so too because they say more than more mail came they went with it so I don't know."
Beatrice Flowers,
"It could well be. It could well be that quite a bit has already gone away along with it but what can I do, what can I do? I just have to try now to get in touch with my girls, who I could get in contact with right away, and tell them to check and cancel whatever check they sent."
Alfonso Noble,
Do you think is a habit for the post office?
Julian Baizar,
"Well it's the first time it happened to me so I don't know if..." [Shrugs Shoulder.]
And while she does not know, one thing is certain, the faith in the postal service has been dampened and as Flowers stands at her fence looking for the mailman to come, her faith on getting her mail intact all the time is now not certain.
And while that is one case of mail tampering, 7NEWS has learnt of another case, and this time, the Post Office is looking to share the blame. 7NEWS has learnt that a post office inspector has made a complaint to the CIB office that sometime between the morning of Wednesday November 30th and the afternoon of Thursday December first someone stole four pieces of mail from a post office bag. The Post Office says somewhere between Caye Caulker and Belize City while being transported via Tropic Air. Today, a Tropic Air freight representative disclaimed any responsibility for the loss. According to our information, two of the mail parcels contained a few hundred dollars for the Post Office.
