The incident started unfolding last week when residents of Holmes County, Florida, discovered discarded FedEx packages in the woods and along roadsides.

The local post office alerted authorities, prompting an investigation. FedEx cooperated with the Holmes County Sheriff's Office to identify the delivery driver assigned to the route.

The driver, Latavion Lewis, a 28-year-old independent contractor from Alabama, was tracked down and admitted to dumping the packages to save time instead of returning them to the FedEx warehouse.

"During the interview, Lewis admitted to deputies that, due to the late hour, he chose to discard the undelivered packages at several locations rather than return them to the FedEx warehouse," the sheriff's office wrote on Facebook.

Lewis was taken into custody on December 18 and charged with grand theft, illegal dumping, and an organized scheme to defraud.

Investigators have so far recovered 44 packages containing electronics and household goods valued at several thousand dollars.

The recovered items were redirected to the Bonifay Post Office to ensure delivery to their rightful recipients.

FedEx issued a statement condemning the incident, confirming that Lewis has been removed from their network, and reaffirming their commitment to the secure transport of customers' shipments, WBKO reported.