DRUG users are stealing mail from letterboxes across Sydney’s inner city suburbs and exchanging it for drugs like heroin and ice, police have discovered.

The State Crime Command Fraud and Cybercrime Squad in partnership with Redfern police charged one man with multiple counts of possessing and dealing with identity information to commit an indictable offence.

Police allege Roger Hegardy was wearing a falsely obtained Australia Post uniform when he was seen fleeing the vicinity of a car which contained large amounts of identity documents and mail.

Mr Hegardy, who was arrested in late March and is in custody awaiting trial, is just one of seven people charged under Strike Force Boars — tasked with investigating the escalating connection between mail theft and drug supply.

“What we’re seeing is that drug supply and identity fraud have merged,” Seargent Peter Biffen said.

media_camera Police showing how easy it is for letterbox thefts, most commonly unlocked or to small for letters.

Seargent Biffen, who works with the Proactive Crime Team stationed at Redfern LAC said a “barter system” sees mail swapped for ice and heroin.

“(This) means we’re arresting a lot of users in possession of mail and ID documents — (we’re also seeing) heroin use increasing because (they’re) able to obtain (the drugs) without paying for them,” he said.

Sophisticated crime syndicates operate out of hotel rooms around the city, Redfern and Surry Hills. Masterminds of the syndicate move hotel rooms regularly to avoid detection, as well as using falsely subscribed phones and identification and encrypted BlackBerry phones which use an offshore server.

Lower-end criminals known as “boxers” are tasked with stealing identification documents from mailboxes which are brought to the rooms and exchanged for heroin and ice.

media_camera Strike Force Boars — tasked with investigating the escalating connection between mail theft and drug supply.

Boxers often use a master key to open mailboxes to steal items including passports, drivers licences and credit cards which are posted from financial and government institutions.

The theft often goes unreported as residents don’t notice missing mail or will contact the institution rather than alerting police, unaware of the further problem the stolen items are fuelling.

“We believe it’s one of the major reasons behind our drug problem,” Redfern LAC Commander Luke Freudenstein said.

The Redfern area rates the highest in heroin detection and the third in ice detection in the state, making the issue even more pressing for the vulnerable community. Seargent Biffen said as recently as the past few months, overdoses from heroin around the area has increased.

“The people we’re after are the suppliers of those drugs, because they don’t care what they supply, they don’t know the strength or additives in that,” Superintendent Freudenstein said.

“They’re the people we want to target. If they think they think they can come into Redfern and supply, and believe our great community is not going to let us know they’ve got another thing coming, because we always get them,” he said.