The Italian postal police recently discovered nearly half a ton of undelivered mail hidden in a postman’s garage after volunteers at a recycling centre received more than two dozen Poste Italiane containers with mail inside.
According to a story published by the Associated Press earlier this year, the 573-kilogram stash found in the Vicenza home of a 56-year-old postman was the biggest seizure of undelivered mail in Italy’s history. Punishable by up to a year in prison, the “violation, misappropriation or destruction” of someone else’s mail is a criminal offence in the Mediterranean country.
The missing mail, which included bills, bank statements, phone books and political mailings from the 2010 regional elections, had been accumulating for the past eight years. Police were finally tipped off after a recycling centre received 25 large containers with some mail inside.
The postal service will now attempt delivering the recently discovered mail to its rightful owners.