Seeds of Mystery

If you've never seen the classic 1956 horror film Invasion of the Body Snatchers or its 1978 remake, now is the perfect time to revive the tale of alien seeds that drift down from space and land in a small California town where they grow into large oozing pods containing zombie-like replicas of the townsfolk.

It might add an extra thrill of excitement if you wake up the next morning to discover a strange package in your mailbox of unmarked seeds sent from China.

The unsolicited packages of foreign mystery seeds that appeared in mailboxes across the country over the last week are starting to show up in Santa Fe.

"I had not ordered anything, so when I opened the mailbox I was very surprised to find these seeds," says Santa Fe woman Eugenia Acosta, who received the package on July 29. Inside she found several packets of what looked like fennel seeds.

Acosta tells SFR she put in a call to the New Mexico Department of Agriculture to find out what to do with the seeds. When she did not hear back from the department, she called the Santa Fe Extension Master Gardeners Association, whose volunteers asked her to bring the seeds to the program office across from the Santa Fe Fair Grounds on Rodeo Road.

NMSU County Extension Agent Tom Dominguez tells SFR he's received a number of calls from people who have received similar packages. He has offered to collect seeds sent to Santa Fe residents to give people a fast and easy avenue for safely disposing of them, and will send them in bulk to the state Department of Agriculture for inspection.

The Master Gardeners Program Office is closed to the public due to COVID-19, but Acosta says she was directed to drop the seeds off in a box outside the office.

"There was a large plastic box for me to deposit them, and when I opened the lid there were very many other envelopes in there so I know I must not be the only person in town who has received them," she says.

As of Friday, Dominguez had collected five packages.

"What I've seen is a different type of seed in each one," he says.

Katie Laney, assistant division director in the agricultural production service division of the state agriculture department, confirms the department has received 15 packages and around 200 calls or emails from people in the state reporting that they also received mystery seeds.

The department issued a news release warning New Mexico residents not to plant the seeds and instructing recipients to send all contents and packaging to the department for further investigation. The release also asks people who may have already put the seeds in the ground to destroy any emerging plants.

"This type of international shipment of seeds is unlawful under state and federal regulations. The seeds are unknown and could be a pathway for introductions of new invasive plant species and new plant diseases to the state," it reads.

The concern, says Laney, is that the seeds could be noxious weeds or could contain plant pathogens that could harm New Mexico's agriculture and ecosystem.

"Part of the problem is how they are arriving," she says. "Most of them are arriving with markings saying that it's jewelry or electronics or something other than seeds. By doing that they are avoiding the USDA agricultural inspections they would be subject to if they were properly marked."

"The other problem is that the seeds have absolutely no labeling," Laney continues. "We have no idea what they are or what they contain, and they could harbor diseases…We have seen instances in the past when noxious plants are introduced they just wreak havoc."

NMDA is investigating the situation in collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture, Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection, other federal agencies, and other state departments.

Laney says she's received calls from NMSU Master Gardener Extension agents and even one police officer in other parts of the state who are also collecting seed packages from local residents to send in to the department.

NMDA is hoping to collect more data, including the ZIP-codes of recipients, to search for patterns. A survey for recipients of the packages is posted on the NMDA website. Recipients of the foreign shipments should save all shipping labels, packaging and seeds, and email at nmagsec@nmda.nmsu.edu (photographs encouraged), or call 575-646-3007.

Officials with the US Department of Agriculture and the Better Business Bureau say packages could be part of a "brushing scam" in which third-party sellers find people's shipping information online, send them unsolicited products, and write positive reviews of the product using the shipping receipts as proof of purchase to verify the review.