400kg undelivered mail found in former Italy postman’s home

A former postman in Italy is facing charges after around 400 kilogrammes of undelivered mail was found stashed in his home in Turin, a city in the country’s northern region.

The 33-year-old man, who has not been named, told police that he did not deliver any mail for three years as his salary was too low, adding that he quit his job in 2017, The Guardian reports.  

“I wasn’t paid enough and so I quit,” the man reportedly said.

The incident unfolded after the man was stopped during a routine road check and was found in possession of a 20cm long folding knife and 70 letters on the back seat of his car, according to a statement by Turin police.

Sensing that something was not right, the law enforcers went to his home where they recovered another 40 boxes of undelivered mail.

The stash of mail included bank statements, bills and other private correspondence, reports The Guardian.

The man is now facing charges of theft, misappropriation of correspondence and for carrying a weapon.

Italy has a fairly unreliable postal service, and this is not the first time that undelivered mail was recovered from a postal official.

Earlier in January, police discovered nearly a half-ton of undelivered mail in a rogue postman’s garage, AP reported.

The postal police said the 573-kilogram stash in the Vicenza home of the 56-year-old postman was the biggest seizure of mail ever undertaken in Italy.

The missing mail had been collecting for the past eight years and included utility bills, bank statements, old phone books and political propaganda mailings from the 2010 regional elections.

Police were tipped off when volunteers from a recycling centre reported receiving 25 big yellow containers from the postal service, with mail still inside. The postal police say the mail will now be delivered to its rightful owners, a few years late.