A Delta woman is facing a quartet of charges after police found mail, bank and credit cards and meth in a car parked in South Surrey Wednesday night.
Cpl. Bert Paquet said the discovery was made just before midnight Feb. 25, after a convenience-store employee alerted police to a suspicious vehicle that had been parked "for hours" outside the store, in the 13900-block of 16 Avenue.
Unable to see inside due to tinted windows, the responding officer knocked on the Honda's driver-side window, then opened the door. Inside was a woman, more than 150 pieces of mail, several cellphones and "evidence of other criminal activities relating to credit cards and bank cards."
Mail theft has been a prominent issue in South Surrey in recent months, with police and Canada Post fielding regular reports of stolen or damaged community mailboxes. The incidents are not only inconvenient for those affected, but puts them at risk of identity theft, Paquet said.
Police are working with Canada Post security officials on strategies to curb the problem.
Paquet described the quantity of mail found Wednesday as "significant."
"The contents of an entire mailbox would probably yield something like that," he said.
While it's believed the mail is connected to recent incidents of damage to and theft from community mailboxes, Paquet said there were no such reports from Wednesday night.
Details from the arrest were shared with Canada Post investigators, and police will be working to reunite the recovered mail with its rightful owners.
But, "don't call us, we'll call you," he said. "We will contact and get in touch with owners of items that we have recovered."
Paquet noted mail-theft victims will likely become witnesses in the case.
A 25-year-old woman described as known to police was to appear in court today (Thursday) in connection with the incident. Police recommended charges of possession of stolen property, theft of mail, possession of property obtained by crime and possession of a controlled substance.