Couple receives suspect seed package

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This article was published 04/08/2020 (1875 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Suspect seed packages being delivered to homes across Canada and in the United States have arrived in Brandon.

Jolene Patterson said Saturday a neighbour had been collecting their mail while they were away at the lake, and about 10 days ago called to tell them they had received a package addressed to her husband, Dave, that felt as though it had seeds in it.

The neighbour sent them a screenshot from Facebook saying that if anyone receives unsolicited seeds to call the Canadian Food Inspection Agency immediately.

Patterson said she called and an agent told her to put the seeds in the freezer to kill any bugs that could be inside.

The agency will decide how to pick up all the packages, Patterson said, or will have her drop the package off at the Brandon Research and Development Centre.

They are now waiting for instructions on what to do with the package.

The agent told Patterson many of the packages have the word jewelry written on them. Their package said it contained a glove.

 “I’m surprised it was addressed to my husband because he doesn’t order often online,” Patterson said. 

She was even more surprised that the package had their old phone number and cellphone number on the shipping label.

“That phone number has not been in the phone book for probably eight months because that was ported over to my husband’s cellphone,” she said, adding cellphone numbers are often not readily available.

She speculates that whoever sent the package may have been using an old phone book.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency last week issued a notice that it is investigating reports of individuals receiving unsolicited packages of seeds.

“Do not plant seeds from unknown origins,” the agency wrote. “Unauthorized seeds could be the seeds of invasive plants, or carry plant pests, which can be harmful when introduced into Canada.

“These species can invade agricultural and natural areas, causing serious damage to our plant resources,” it said.

“So far, there have been reports from most Canadian provinces of people receiving seeds of different types,” Wendy Asbil, national manager of the CFIA’s Invasive Alien Species section, said in a release last Wednesday.

“The CFIA is working with our United States counterparts on this issue.”

Asbil said people who have such seeds should not dispose of them in the trash or compost them because they could sprout.

The United States Department of Agriculture said on its website it is aware that people across the country have received suspicious, unsolicited packages of seed that appear to be coming from China.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is working closely with the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection, other federal agencies and state departments of agriculture to investigate the situation, it said.

“At this time, we don’t have any evidence indicating this is something other than a ‘brushing scam’ where people receive unsolicited items from a seller who then posts false customer reviews to boost sales,” the post reads.

“I don’t understand why someone would review a product that they didn’t order,” Patterson said. 

» brobertson@brandonsun.com, with files from The Canadian Press