Modern Mysteries

Mystery seed packets from China are being delivered to Texas residents

By T.K. Randall
February 16, 2025 ·  13 comments

Who sent these and why ? Image Credit: Texas Department of Agriculture / Fox 7 News According to reports, multiple residents across the state of Texas have recently received an unexpected delivery of seed packets sent from an unknown address in China.

The phenomenon echoes a very similar spate of unsolicited seed deliveries reported in 2020, though in that case the packages had been sent to local distributers rather than directly to mailboxes.

The Texas Department of Argiculture has since been analyzing the seed packets to see if they contain seeds for plants that are invasive or potentially dangerous to the local area.

Officials have so far recovered around 20 seed packets and have determined that at least some of them are water lilies - an aggressive plant that can quickly cover the surface of entire lakes.

The question is - who is sending these packets and for what purpose ?

"These are being dropped, shipped straight from China to the consumer," said Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller."We think they have ordered from Temu. It's how they got their address. They all seem to have a link that they've ordered something from China, but they didn't order these seeds."

"They're coming in a completely different shipment."

The story doesn't end there, however.

"Some of these packages have an unidentified liquid in them, which is very bothersome," said Miller.

"Now, my theory and I hope I hope I'm wrong, is that they may just be testing our biosecurity, seeing what they can get by with, what they can get in."

Anyone who receives a packet of seeds is being advised not to throw them in the trash but to instead contact their local agriculture department.

"The problem just going into the landfill without destroying the seeds is they may actually sprout and get away from us," said Miller. "We don't need that."

Source: Fox 7 Austin | Comments (13)

Tags: Seeds, China