UPS employees arrested in massive gun theft ring, exposing bigger national problem of stolen weapons
WEST COLUMBIA, SC July 25 2020— Five UPS employees were arrested last week in connection with guns stolen from the shipping company’s hub in West Columbia, according to Lexington County deputies.
The employees, all teenagers, were charged with breach of trust, according to a press release by the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office.
Byron Burke, 19, Jalen Green, 19, Dishon Kinney, 18, Kenyon Peters, 18, and Tre’von Williams, 19, are charged with breach of trust, according to arrest warrants. In addition, Kinney and Peters were also charged with criminal conspiracy.
Lexington Cunty Sheriff Jay Koon said:
“UPS’ security team called us in as soon as they became aware of guns being stolen from incoming trucks.”
Once deputies started investigating, they discovered a plan to steal guns from incoming packages at the UPS hub. Deputies say the five men sold the guns or gave them away on company time.
The five men were arrested at the UPS hub on Thursday, deputies say. All five have been released from the Lexington County Detention Center after meeting conditions of their bond.
UPS and FedEx allow for the shipment of handguns, while the U.S. Postal Service does not.
UPS limits such shipments to between, to and from licensed importers, manufacturers, dealers and collectors and government agencies. The packages also must be sent via Next Day Air services.
According to The Trace, government reports indicate that thousands of guns have gone missing during interstate shipments over the past 20 years:
“The thefts, security experts said, underscore vulnerabilities in the sprawling supply network that routes millions of guns to American consumers every year.
“Those gaps are in part the product of weak security standards, which put guns at heightened risk of being intercepted before they reach store shelves.
“They also handicap law enforcement officials, who may not learn that a shipment has vanished until the guns begin turning up at crime scenes.”
The Department for Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) has reported that 1,500 guns are found every year at crime scenes that have been stolen in transit, according to CNN.
The Trace reports that the ATF now requires dealers to disclose when firearms have been stolen in transit. However, the rules only apply to dealers and not the shipping companies that ferry the guns from place to place:
“Until recently, gunmakers, wholesalers and other federally licensed dealers had to notify law enforcement only when guns went missing from their factories, warehouses, or stores.
“Guns that disappeared while in transit did not have to be reported at all. From fiscal years 2010 through 2014, law enforcement recovered more than 6,600 crime guns that traced back to dealers who claimed to have never received them — but never reported the theft or loss to federal law enforcement.”
Security experts said the new rules were likely too weak to capture the extent of the problem and that shipping companies might avoid disclosing guns lost in transit in hopes of warding off negative publicity:
Keith Lewis, vice president of operations for CargoNet, a firm that tracks and helps investigate cargo thefts, said:
“A lot of people don’t want to talk about it, so they don’t report it, don’t go public with it. It’s all about brand protection.”
Thieves are stealing unsecured weapons from cars, homes, stores and postal services, creating a criminal underground market where thugs buy and trade guns.
