Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below 
I just posted this at the end of a (too) long thread. Actually, it deserves its own thread.
Here's an abbreviated version of a small portion of Chapter 19 of LEGAL MUSCLE ...
Q: What if I write, “Return to Sender” and put it by the door?
A: Okay, we have to talk about this. I don’t know when this started, but it was recommended in a 1998 book on steroid import methods. Now it’s become pretty standard practice for a lot of guys. I’ve heard claims that this is the magic bullet that stops law enforcement in its tracks. Write “Return to Sender” on the package as soon as you accept it and then put it by the front door like you don’t want it. When the raid team comes crashing in, you’ll have a built-in defense: “Hey, I refused the package! Get out of my house!” Your brief possession can be claimed as a simple mistake. Sounds good, especially in this uncertain age of mail bombs and anthrax letters, doesn’t it? Sometimes it can be. Without question, I have seen some cases where this technique was successful in avoiding a bust.
But depending on the specific situation, it can actually be quite damaging to your defense, a complete backfire! It depends on all the circumstances, and not all the circumstances are within your knowledge or control. Let’s flesh out a scenario. Let’s say the doorbell rings. You answer it. It’s Mr. Courier Service with a package for you. What does he say? Hmmm? He asks if you’re the person whose name is on the package, right? Of course he does, otherwise he shouldn’t give it to you. Let’s say it’s your name on the package. You respond that you are, in fact, that person. He now says, here’s your package – sign here.
You have two choices at this point, and you can’t know which is right because you can’t be sure if the delivery is legit or not. You can say, “Hey, no, wait, I wasn’t expecting anything. I don’t want it.” In which case, you will have avoided taking possession of the package (but will probably be visited shortly thereafter by two agents for a “knock and talk,” as described in Chapter 7.
Or, you can accept the package. Accepting the package is like ringing a bell. Once it’s rung, you can’t un-ring it. You’re now in possession of the package. You accepted it knowingly and voluntarily. But now in the course of five minutes you make a mad dash for your felt marker and scribble your rejection of it just in time for the knock on the door. Does that really support the inference that your acceptance of the package was some sort of accident or mistake? Or does it imply that you’re a crafty devil who’s using a deceptive tactic to thwart the investigators? How, they will ask, did you know that you didn’t want it without opening it? What new information struck you, like a bolt of lightning, in the seconds between your very willing acceptance of it at the door and your mad scrabble to disconnect yourself from it moments later? Let me let you in on a little secret: law enforcement has been aware of the “Return to Sender” ploy for quite a while. The agents might even get away with testifying at trial that writing, “Return to Sender” on a package and putting it near the door is a hallmark of drug traffickers who use the mail. There’s an argument, isn’t there, that your curious conduct suggests a guilty knowledge of the contents, don’t you think? Might not a persuasive prosecutor get a jury to think so?
Here's an abbreviated version of a small portion of Chapter 19 of LEGAL MUSCLE ...
Q: What if I write, “Return to Sender” and put it by the door?
A: Okay, we have to talk about this. I don’t know when this started, but it was recommended in a 1998 book on steroid import methods. Now it’s become pretty standard practice for a lot of guys. I’ve heard claims that this is the magic bullet that stops law enforcement in its tracks. Write “Return to Sender” on the package as soon as you accept it and then put it by the front door like you don’t want it. When the raid team comes crashing in, you’ll have a built-in defense: “Hey, I refused the package! Get out of my house!” Your brief possession can be claimed as a simple mistake. Sounds good, especially in this uncertain age of mail bombs and anthrax letters, doesn’t it? Sometimes it can be. Without question, I have seen some cases where this technique was successful in avoiding a bust.
But depending on the specific situation, it can actually be quite damaging to your defense, a complete backfire! It depends on all the circumstances, and not all the circumstances are within your knowledge or control. Let’s flesh out a scenario. Let’s say the doorbell rings. You answer it. It’s Mr. Courier Service with a package for you. What does he say? Hmmm? He asks if you’re the person whose name is on the package, right? Of course he does, otherwise he shouldn’t give it to you. Let’s say it’s your name on the package. You respond that you are, in fact, that person. He now says, here’s your package – sign here.
You have two choices at this point, and you can’t know which is right because you can’t be sure if the delivery is legit or not. You can say, “Hey, no, wait, I wasn’t expecting anything. I don’t want it.” In which case, you will have avoided taking possession of the package (but will probably be visited shortly thereafter by two agents for a “knock and talk,” as described in Chapter 7.
Or, you can accept the package. Accepting the package is like ringing a bell. Once it’s rung, you can’t un-ring it. You’re now in possession of the package. You accepted it knowingly and voluntarily. But now in the course of five minutes you make a mad dash for your felt marker and scribble your rejection of it just in time for the knock on the door. Does that really support the inference that your acceptance of the package was some sort of accident or mistake? Or does it imply that you’re a crafty devil who’s using a deceptive tactic to thwart the investigators? How, they will ask, did you know that you didn’t want it without opening it? What new information struck you, like a bolt of lightning, in the seconds between your very willing acceptance of it at the door and your mad scrabble to disconnect yourself from it moments later? Let me let you in on a little secret: law enforcement has been aware of the “Return to Sender” ploy for quite a while. The agents might even get away with testifying at trial that writing, “Return to Sender” on a package and putting it near the door is a hallmark of drug traffickers who use the mail. There’s an argument, isn’t there, that your curious conduct suggests a guilty knowledge of the contents, don’t you think? Might not a persuasive prosecutor get a jury to think so?
