A US Postal Service employee in New York has been charged with stealing drugs from a parcel that was being shipped illegally through the mail.
Lori Allen, who works at a post office in Rosedale, Queens, was filmed on Sept. 10 by security cameras inside the postal facility as she removed items from an Express Mail package that had been sitting on a supervisor’s desk, officials said.
Brooklyn federal prosecutors say the recording shows Allen crouching behind the post office’s front counter and using scissors to open the package, which had been shipped from Los Angeles to Queens.
US Postal Inspectors say Allen was aided in removing the items from the package by an unnamed second postal service employee, according to court documents.
After removing smaller parcels from the box, the Express Mail package was stuffed with bubble wrap, resealed, and placed back on the supervisor’s desk, officials said.
Allen and the other employee later left the post office branch carrying a bag that investigators believe held the stolen drugs, officials said.
When postal inspectors investigated later, they weighed the Express Mail package and noticed that it was six pounds lighter than when it had been accepted for shipment in Los Angeles, officials said.
The investigators then interviewed Allen after advising her of her constitutional rights and she admitted stealing the drugs with the other employee, prosecutors say.
Allen explained that she had received $1,000-2,000 for pilfering the drugs, court documents say.
Officials have not elaborated on how Allen knew which parcel held the drugs or who paid her to steal them.
Allen pleading not guilty in Brooklyn federal court to a charge of stealing from the mail by a postal employee, she was released by Magistrate Judge Steven Gold on $25,000 bail.
An effort to reach Allen’s attorney Thursday evening not immediately unsuccessful.
mmaddux@nypost.com