With things the way they are now I would NEVER order raw materials. I'd rather pay for something that was pre-made because it looks like what it is......personal use. Powders look too much like intent to manufacture and distribute. I'm glad to hear you will not be going away bro and thanks for posting this. I think many of us get "too comfortable" and that's when things go bad. You really cannot be too paranoid.
I wonder if the same rules apply to orders from "Domestic" sources? Are your chances better if you spend the extra dough and only go with people that ship domesticly? I also wonder if the feds are the guys that are shipping domesticly? I know the feds do sell street drugs. To creat a sting and to watch who the main dealers are.
Many years ago I heard of a bust in Marin County. The deal was for a large amout of something the most users put up their noses. Well the bust went down and hey guess what the sellers where feds also. Oops ( and I heard this from a fed ). I'm sure that they are doing the same thing with gear.
Anything that crosses state lines could warrant federal involvement. If I had ordered domestically, customs wouldn't have been involved. I'll never know what would have happened in that situation.
Who knows what other factors come into play that get eyeballs on you though. Hushmail? Not safe. Popular research supply companies? Not safe. LE has their hands in everything & it comes down to the luck of the draw - is joe blow going to be the example an agent decides to try to connect the dots on?
shoe, sorry to hear this.. but I do agree with loths the ammount of time they waste of some of the less petty crimes in the world, look at the drug cartel on the boarders of mexico, etc.. 8k+ dead in 2 months, yet they worry about some guy doing gear.