The Department of Agriculture is investigating incidents in which hundreds of people in Virginia, Maryland, and other states received packages of unsolicited seeds that appear to have come from China.
State agriculture officials have urged people to report receiving such packages immediately and have warned people not to plant the seeds, which officials said are “unknown” and could be invasive species.
Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs spokesman Michael Wallace told WTOP News that the department had received more than 900 emails and hundreds of calls from people reporting that they received unlabeled seed packets. The Maryland Department of Agriculture said it doesn’t know the exact number of reports it has received of unsolicited seed packages.
“Invasive species wreak havoc on the environment, displace or destroy native plants and insects, and severely damage crops,” the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs said in a recent statement.
The Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is investigating the incidents along with Customs and Border Control, the agency said in a press release Tuesday.
The agency said it doesn’t have any evidence suggesting that this is more than a “brushing scheme,” through which sellers send unsolicited items to people in order to create fake customer reviews to improve sales.
“USDA is currently collecting seed packages from recipients and will test their contents and determine if they contain anything that could be of concern to U.S. agriculture or the environment,” the agency said.
