HOUSTON — Two days after a state official urged Texans to be cautious with unsolicited packages from China, he said they’re getting new reports from people who say they’ve also received the mystery seeds.
On Wednesday, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller put out an alert after someone in the Brazoria County town of Clute received an unsolicited package containing seeds and a container of liquid.
Since then, Miller said his office has been getting reports of similar cases in Texas. One Texan reported ordering a dog toy from the Chinese vendor Temu but received a package of seeds instead, according to Miller.
“It’s clear there’s a trend here, and Americans nationwide need to stay vigilant,” he said in a statement.
The items from Clute have already been tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They identified the seeds as sacred lotus or Indian lotus. The aquatic plants are invasive in many regions outside of Asia.
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Invasive plants can damage native species and “substantially harm the Texas agriculture industry” by destroying crops, introducing disease to native plants and possibly harming livestock, Miller explained.
“These packages should never have gotten through customs,” Miller said. “Without the proper documentation and consent, the shipment did not meet the entry conditions for the United States. We need to close this loophole in our biosecurity protections. It’s a vulnerability to national security.”
What to do if you receive mystery seeds
If you get the seeds:
- Do not open the bag.
- Don’t throw them away either because they could start growing.
- Contact the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) at 1-800-TELL-TDA.
Thousands received mystery seeds in 2020
When the seeds began turning up all over the United States in 2020, the USDA launched an investigation.
The packages had Chinese writing and a return address in China. Some were marked as jewelry.
In September 2020, U.S. agriculture officials said the USDA had received nearly 20,000 reports from seed recipients.
Amazon changed its policies that year to ban sales of plants and seeds imported into the U.S.