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= ‘ said Tuesday. am “ 7 Of Mob | By PAUL. SCHREIBER - . Herald Statt Writer = Organized crime has..- turned to collecting stamps - . 7 using the Miami area as as . favorite source of supply, the ”: } chief U.S. Postal’ inspector With’ torches instead of : tweezers, explained ; inspecto ~ Henry’ B/? Montague, ” crimi . million in stamps from Post offices across the couniry.. Miamt, he said, ranked - - high in the number of burgla- - ries. A local inspector, W..L. °. Nestor, called South Florida . & “hotbed” of postal theft, . -. At one time, Montague “ admitted, the 4Ancidence of *~ such robberies was: rare, ; That's not.true, he sald, since. organized crime figured -: another system, a ois Their System is hard. to_- beat: uo _ The stamps, stolen by : gangs of specialists, are ped- dled in other states to under- world fences who pass them - “on to business ’ firms appar-'** ently controlled by organized crime and the Mafia. ‘ “We can't necessarily: tie the thefts to the Mafia,” Montague sald, “But { the * nals have stripped: nearly $2 ~~ flown out of Miami and sold” * to.:fences’ in - other States,” Nestor.said. a Stamp. ¥ become fairly routine. Gangs * .8rmed with’ sophisticated cutting tools enter the post office after posting a lookout... with.a walkie-talkie. outside. They. burn, cut. through and” ’ peel away layers of metal on the steel vaults until they are : sable to scoop out every avail- _ able stamp. — “The. ‘stamps’ are - then ” ’ The fences, purchasers of stolen goods, Pay the gangs 30 to 50 per cent of face val- ue, In turn, the fences sell to companies able to distribute. the stamps without arousing Suspicion and get 50 to 75 per ~’ cent of stamp value. ‘ Legitimate business firms, Montague said, would refuse to b te tolen stamps, 50 out- ALL INTO! HEREIN | DATE nN a“ wD . Purposes “of fraud; ~ .Tegulations.-: Their’ “operation? fences “need a market, and & _Merchandise: and/then* quick] 3 * declare -bankruptey* ors, isap-3} - The: postal “burglary has .. ., da, has..-been’ strong “than ‘50 ‘burglaries “i North Carolina, South: Caroli Wa -SOULCE: Cri “¢ - lets tend to be Tafia- ed companies, “=. fs Montague said “many. of th firms are set-up expressly fo - generally?| - n“of “ postal} dnvolving violatio is to order large quantities ‘of: ‘pear ‘after’ disposin */* Stolen Stamps, - provide’ an extra. | : National: Convention of .Post- masters at Atlantic City” said: ‘gangs have operated: largely“| . in the Northeast; the Mid-.' west and in cities like Mia more than a year, ”.! “Miami must be close: to ;- the top 10 in the country," + Nestor said. “We'vé had mor burglaries in the Miami-area? than in the whole Atlanta postal division :-~=-- Florid na and Georgia, “243.. Montague called’ the-‘in j crease “alarming,” and outs.) lined “installation ,Of new .dee'y : tection systems - and“ safes-‘in . a -11 test post offices, i are; ae NAT TOM CONTAINED | U2CLASSTFIED Tf —£-1R~80 BY