Get unsolicited seeds in the mail, officials warn Coloradans not to

Back during the dark days of Covid where scary news was coming wave after wave, another piece of news began making headlines, and that was people were receiving unsolicited mail and packages filled with unidentified seeds.

Flash forward to today in 2026, and Colorado’s Department of Agriculture is again warning residents if they receive “strange” packages containing seeds, to NOT plant them.

Over  1000 people have received these strange packages since 2020 and most indications say they are from China.  They have not identified that they are a biohazard, but they could potentially be an invasive species or plant diseases that could quickly spread throughout the state.

While you may be tempted to just throw the seeds in the trash, the Department of Agriculture requests you place the unopened packet into a sealed plastic bag and mail it to:

USDA APHIS PPQ, 3950 North Lewiston St., Suite 104, Aurora, Colorado 80011-1561