More mystery seeds turn up uninvited in Australian letterboxes

More than 260 unidentified, unsolicited, mystery seed parcels have been found in letterboxes around Australia this year, raising serious concerns about biosecurity breaches.

Despite authorities using detector dogs and x-ray machines to intercept 45,000 “risky” seed parcels at mail centres across the country, the mystery seeds were reported to the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment by concerned community members, prompting fears more seeds could have escaped detection.

“These reports are important and demonstrate the vital role the community plays in identifying and reporting biosecurity risks,” acting chief plant protection officer Gabrielle Vivian-Smith said.