There are two key problems to consider when one contemplates buying marijuana online:

1. It is illegal. [unless you live in Canada]
2. It is unreliable.  If the shipment never arrives, good luck calling your credit card issuer and contesting the charges.

However, more and more websites offering to deliver the goods directly to your door are springing up all of the time.  I’ve recently had the pleasure to discuss these problems with the owner of one such website [which I will not name to protect his anonymity but he seemed quite earnest] and  in our conversations he claimed,  “Actually we take every conceivable precaution to ensure discretion is maintained including vacuum sealing the product, we boast a 100% delivery rate.”  Well, a story came out today about some marijuana shippers that hopefully will give him some pause and remind all of us that it is NOT a good idea to mess with the Feds:

A 10-month investigation ended with federal officials filing criminal charges against seven Mission men for mailing 234 packages containing more than 3,000 pounds of marijuana.

Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said U.S. Postal Inspectors arrested the following suspects in the case this week:

• Leopoldo Rodriguez, 41
• Juan Carlos Hernandez, 21
• Victor Hugo Mares, 25
• Angel Margarito Gallardo, 22
• Margarito Gallardo, 45

The five remain in custody while authorities search for two Mission men who remained at large for the case on Tuesday afternoon:

• Concepcion Gonzalez, 37
• Roman Vasquez-Mendez, 29

According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, postal inspectors discovered marijuana by mail scheme in August 2008.

Court records show that the parcels were similarly packaged and contained raw beans, sealed in the cap of a can of spray foam to create a rattling sound.

Upon inspection, the packages were found to contain expandable foam and marijuana wrapped in thick plastic.

Later, the packaging changed to contain mustard, salt and pepper placed in the cellophane as masking agents around the marijuana.

Postal inspectors learned through surveillance and search warrants that the group had mailed 234 packages containing more than 3,000 pounds of marijuana from various post offices throughout the Rio Grande Valley since May 2008.

The packages were destined to various addresses throughout the United States with most of the packages being sent to Connecticut, Puerto Rico, New York and Florida.

The suspects in this case face from five to 40 years in federal prison and a $2 million fine for drug charges filed against them.

They also face another four years in prison and a $250,000 fine for a misuse of a communications facility charge filed against them.

via Valley Central.

UPDATE: We made an error in this article and asserted that mail order marijuana was legal in Canada. It is NOT. While there are several Canadian websites offering mail-order marijuana, they do so in violation of the law. We apologize for our error.