S&D E33: Following the Mail: Postal Intelligence in the Age of Crypto Crime

Aidan Larkin speaks with Tara Kavanaugh, a federal investigator with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and liaison to the FBI's dark‑web opioid task force. Tara draws on a career spanning HUMINT work in the Middle East, signals intelligence at the NSA and crypto‑enabled investigations at USPIS to explain how modern crime moves across the mail system, the dark web, and digital‑asset ecosystems. She outlines the realities of mail‑based fraud, fentanyl supply chains, dark‑web vendor activity, and the growing “scamdemic,” while highlighting how postal data and blockchain analytics help identify offenders. They also discuss inter‑agency collaboration, investigative tooling and why asset recovery remains central to disrupting harm.

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Early Career & Intelligence Background

04:40 – USPIS Crypto Investigations

06:45 – FBI Liaison Role & Dark‑Web Opioid Task Force

12:50 – Using Postal Intelligence to Strengthen Federal Cases

15:30 – Blockchain Tracing Patterns, Playbooks & Criminal Methods

21:45 – Agency Readiness, SOPs & Evolving Crypto Capabilities

25:45 – Crypto ATMs, Victim Risks & the Growing “Scamdemic”

32:40 - The Modern Investigator’s Toolkit & Global Collaboration

👤 About Our Guest

Tara Kavanaugh is a federal investigator at the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and liaison to the FBI’s Joint Dark‑Web and Opioid Task Force. Her career has spanned HUMINT operations in conflict zones, counterintelligence work at the NSA, dark‑web investigations targeting fentanyl vendors, and blockchain‑based tracing of narcotics proceeds and scam activity. Tara works across local, state, federal, and international partners like Europol to disrupt digital‑asset–enabled crime.

🔑 Key Takeaways

Asset Recovery Is Not Peripheral

From fentanyl vendors to terrorist financing, taking the money disrupts crime faster than arrests.

Inter‑Agency Collaboration Works When Data Flows

USPIS, FBI, Europol, and others share seized server data to proactively identify vendors and cases. USPIS postal metadata, label history, and mail‑stream analytics give investigators visibility that other agencies don’t have.

Crypto ATMs Are a Major Scam Vector

Elderly victims are overwhelmingly targeted, and the machines provide deceptive legitimacy.

Blockchain Tools Have Improved Dramatically

What once required hours of manual tracing now surfaces automatically across chains.

📚 Resources Mentioned

• 9CRC on Youtube

• Europol's Project A.S.S.E.T

• Alison Jimenez on Seize & Desist

• Rich Lebel on Seize & Deist

• Operation Shamrock

• Asset Reality's FCA Approval

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