DETROIT – A machine gun mailed through the United States Postal Service and last known to be at a USPS facility in Detroit is missing.
The gun was sent Registered Mail, which means it was traveling under the “most secure” USPS mail service. It was supposed to be protected by safes, cages, sealed containers, locks, and keys.
When something is shipped through Registered Mail, it requires a signature when it’s delivered. There’s a system of receipts to show every movement the package made, and this gun was last known to be in Detroit.
Ohio firearms dealer Steve Thompson, with Adco Firearms, said he was mailing the gun to a purchaser in Florida. He shipped it from Portage, Ohio, on Feb. 4, 2026. It never made it.
The tracking information shows that the package moved from Portage to Pontiac, Michigan. Its last known location was when it was “processing” at a USPS facility in Detroit on Feb. 6, 2026.
Then, suddenly, nobody knew where it was.
Thompson filed a missing mail request, and even reported the gun as missing to the ATF.
“It’s not just a regular gun. It’s a government registered machine gun,” Thompson said.
Thompson said the gun is an original Israeli nine millimeter Uzi sub-machine gun. He sold the gun for $25,000 and had insured it for $20,000.
He eventually filed an insurance claim with the USPS. His first claim was denied. His first appeal was denied. It was on the second appeal that his claim was approved.
“Clearly somebody in the Detroit plant knows what happened and there’s got to be some finger pointing, and nobody’s admitting anything,” Thompson said.
Thompson said after the Investigators at Local 4 started asking questions, someone from the USPS contacted him and said they were investigating.
The Investigators at Local 4 reached out to the USPS on Friday asking for a statement, and again on Monday. They did not get back to us until after the story aired.
On Thursday, April 2, 2026, the USPS told the Local 4 Investigators that the Office of the Inspector General is handling the investigation and our inquiry had been forwarded to them. Shortly after, the USPS OIG reached out and provided the following information:
“As a matter of standard USPS OIG protocol, the USPS OIG does not confirm or refute information related to possible ongoing USPS OIG investigations, except in matters where details of the investigation become a matter of public record.
“To report alleged mail theft, discarded mail, fraud and other postal crimes committed by postal employees or contractors, please contact the USPS OIG hotline at www.uspsoig.gov/hotline.
“The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG), an independent agency within the Postal Service, maintains the integrity and accountability of America’s postal service, its revenue and assets, and its employees. One of the missions of USPS OIG special agents is to investigate mail delivery concerns that involve Postal Service employees. The USPS OIG takes allegations of delayed, discarded, lost, or stolen mail seriously and investigates those allegations vigorously. To learn more about the USPS OIG, please visit our website at www.uspsoig.gov.”
Office of Inspector General