A package from China containing seeds received by an Illinois resident.
Photo: Kevin E. Schmidt/Zuma PressThe case of the mystery seeds showing up in U.S. mailboxes from shippers in China and other countries has gone global.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said consumers in at least 22 U.S. states and several other countries had received unsolicited packages of seeds. Canada, the U.K. and Australia all are investigating the matter.
The USDA, in a recorded radio broadcast released Wednesday night, revealed the world-wide scope of the seed shipments after thousands of people across the U.S. reported receiving seeds in the mail they didn’t order. States from Washington to Virginia have warned residents about the unsolicited packages, and the USDA said earlier this week that it was collecting the packages to test the seeds for anything of concern.
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Multiple U.S. agencies are now investigating the seeds, from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection.
Unsolicited seed packages have been on the USDA’s radar since at least early June, according to state agriculture officials. Gary Black, Georgia’s commissioner of agriculture, said his department contacted the USDA after a handful of state residents reported receiving such deliveries around June 2.
Osama El-Lissy, a deputy administrator for the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the agency has so far identified 14 species of seeds, from mustard and morning glory to cabbage, rosemary and roses.
As of late Wednesday, there was no indication any of the seeds carry pests or diseases, according to the USDA.
The USDA also reiterated it has no evidence the packages are anything other than a “brushing scam.” In such scams, vendors selling through online retailers like Amazon.com pay “brushers” to place orders for their products, and packages with low-value or no contents are shipped to strangers. Brushers then pose as the buyers and post fake customer reviews to boost the vendor’s sales.
“These appear to be delayed packages due to Covid-19, not brushing,” a spokesperson for Amazon said in a statement. The company said it is working with its sellers, customers and government agencies to address concerns about the mailings. The USDA didn’t immediately comment.
Washington resident Jennifer Taylor received all the corn, broccoli and cucumber seeds that she had ordered from Amazon in time to plant her garden in the spring. Then last week a small package arrived in the mail, postmarked from China. It contained a packet of small, cream-colored seeds that, she said, made her nervous. Now, she said, “I want to burn them.”
In Louisiana, state inspectors are working to collect hundreds more packages sent from countries including China, Uzbekistan and the Solomon Islands. Other recipients say packages were sent from the United Arab Emirates and Kyrgyzstan.
Minnesota’s agriculture department is talking with the U.S. Postal Service about identifying and intercepting the packages––often marked as jewelry, toys, and other goods––before they are delivered to homes, said Denise Thiede, head of the agency’s seed program.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency this week instructed Canadians who had received such packages not to plant the seeds, while the U.K. government said it has been investigating packages of seeds marked as “ear studs” that citizens there received over the last month. A spokeswoman for Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment said the agency was looking into whether unsolicited seed mailings had been received in that country.
China’s Foreign Ministry earlier this week said that mailing labels on the seed packages were forged, and that China had asked the U.S. to send packages for investigation. Chinese government officials had no further comment Thursday.
In the U.S., state and federal officials are asking people who received unsolicited packages not to plant or handle the seeds, to keep them in their original packaging and turn them over to local or U.S. agriculture departments. Planting the seeds can potentially introduce invasive species and spread plant disease, said officials, who also advised against throwing the seeds in the trash for fear they would sprout in landfills.
Some consumers have received seeds in mislabeled packages that weren’t what they ordered. Others have received multiple seed packages after their initial order was delivered. Still others are finding small packets of seeds tucked into packages of other goods they ordered, such as clothing.
In Derbyshire, England, Susan Westerdale two months ago received a small package labeled “ear studs” with Chinese lettering on the address label. Inside was a pack of small, black seeds that looked like those of a cumin plant, she said. Ms. Westerdale had recently ordered seeds on Amazon and eBay, but the description and origin didn’t match that on her orders.
Some seed recipients said they had listed seeds on Amazon “Wish Lists” that were shared with other people. When seeds arrived in the mail, they thought they were gifts, but the seeds didn’t match those on their lists.
Sheree Long, who runs a nonprofit organization in Washington state, began receiving seed packages that appeared postmarked from China in late May, and had labels suggesting they were jewelry. She assumed they were a gift from someone with access to her Wish List. But they didn’t look like any of the seeds she had registered for. She tried to get the seeds to sprout by placing them on a moist paper towel in a sealed plastic bag. Nothing happened. More packages of seeds came, including a sixth one on Thursday.
“It’s very odd,” Ms. Long said. “I’m a big gardener so I knew something was off. These weren’t the seeds on my lists.”
Reports of unsolicited seed packets proliferated after state agriculture departments warned residents about them last week, including from people who had received unexplained seed deliveries weeks or months ago.
Across the U.S., state agriculture departments over the past week have dispatched plant inspectors and other employees to collect seeds from residents for analysis and investigation. In Alabama, agriculture commissioner Rick Pate said he sent inspectors to dig up seeds recipients had planted.
Logan Wilde, commissioner of Utah’s Department of Agriculture and Food, said his department is planting some of the seeds it has collected for testing and is awaiting new USDA guidance on how to destroy those left over. He also said the FBI had requested a meeting with his department this week. An FBI representative declined to comment.
Sid Miller, commissioner of Texas’ agriculture department, said he is sharing his personal email address and encouraging seed recipients to contact him. One woman this week sent him a photo of a plant she was raising from some bulbs that had arrived in one such package. “I said, you need to burn that right now,” Mr. Miller said.
—Annie Gasparro and Alistair Macdonald contributed to this article.
Write to Jesse Newman at jesse.newman@wsj.com and Jacob Bunge at jacob.bunge@wsj.com
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