Who gets in trouble if drugs are mailed to my house

There is a good chance that the occupants of the house could be arrested. The person that the package is addressed to stands a good chance of being arrested. The person signing for the package may get arrested. However, if the package is not opened, there is an argument that the person who signs for the package did not know what was in the package. The same argument can be made for the addressee. However, those types of defenses are probably jury issues. f course, if these are legally prescribed medications, then probably nobody gets arrested.

I have experience with this issue. There is a right way and a wrong way for the police to make an arrest in this scenario. First of all, if they're local police, they probably have no way of knowing who sent the drugs (I am presuming for the purposes of this answer that the drugs are illegal). Typically, the return address is vague, inaccurate, or illegible. If the package was spotted in the sorting facility, then they have to determine if the recipient is part of the scheme. Often, drug dogs are used to scan packages at random. If a dog, or a tip, provides probable cause to search a package, the police should obtain a warrant to open the package. Packages carry the same constitutional protections of the persons they're sent to. Then, the police should set up a controlled delivery, where they deliver the package undercover, see for themselves who picks it up and/or signs for it. Then they need to obtain a warrant for that residence and finally they need to serve the warrant and catch the recipient accepting the package's contents. That's the right way, or one right way out of possibly many others. Assuming PC exists simply because a dog alerted is wrong. Opening the package without a warrant is wrong. Grabbing someone who never accepted delivery is wrong. Grabbing someone for just accepting delivery is wrong. And when I say wrong I mean it is an issue that can be fought in motions to suppress, and this all happens after the arrest. In reality, police do many things on impulse or without proper research. Arrests are made, offers are made, and people plead out. If you receive an unexpected package that contains drugs I suppose you should call police yourself or be prepared to get a good lawyer. Now, if the feds or DEA detect this package, there could be other scenarios. They may watch several shipments and deliveries. They may make shipments themselves. They may surveil the recipient closely and use better technology than local law enforcement may have. They may arrest the sender and set up the recipient along with the sender's testimony. I think you get the idea. BTW, the feds are big on prosecuting meth rings. Bottom line: you're playing with fire.

It could be you or whomever is at home at the time.

Anybody that is asking this question needs to retain a lawyer ASAP!