Contraband Agricultural Products?

AJ Drew

AJ Drew

So I am a wee bit freaked out.  Received and filled an order, sent it to Monroe, WA.  Customer writes to tell me that he received his box with a federal search warrant issued in Honolulu, HI.  Evidently, the box was damaged there, the peppers came out, they got the search warrant and determined it was a contraband agricultural product.  The box was then closed with the search warrant and sent to the customer in Monroe, WA.

I of course refunded the order promptly but am left wondering what the hell?  OK, maybe Hawaii bans one of the peppers I sent.  Seems odd, but that begs the question why on earth did they wind up in Hawaii.

Anyone else ever hear of something this nutty?
 
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New here and my first post.
Customs has sucked up some of my seeds coming from outside US lately...They return the original package with a nasty little note.  I was "warned" I was now on some government list...So...I am no longer a "Seed Smuggler".  I did the deed and applied for the damn "small seed importation" permit.  It took two weeks because the system and/or methodology of anything having to do with the government basically sucks.  The permit was free but that was the easiest part of it.  After completing the form for "Level One" you are informed that in order to import the seeds, you must have a "Level Two" permit.  I filled that out online and then I was informed that I had to take myself and two forms of ID to a "USDA Office" which in my case was 60 miles away to prove my identity.  When I arrived the woman told me "Gee, we have never had anyone apply for this" which instilled me with so much confidence that this part of the ordeal would go smoothly.   After three jillion phone calls & 6 hours on the phone I finally was able to submit a request for "shipping labels" which request is now pending until they get off their butts and approve it.  My Supplier in Spain got a REALLY nasty letter from both US & Spanish Authorities which informed him that he is now a "known violator"  and any further instances of lawlessness would result in stiff fines and the hoosegow.  As I trade seeds all over the world and I travel more or less continuously in the winter and haunt every marketplace on 5 continents, I decided I should probably do it legally... When I think about what crawls, flies, walks, runs and drives across our border that has more holes than a collander, it does sort of tick me off.  Okay...I feel better now, I vented. 
 
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     Just gonna toss this one out there... AJ, have you ever considered that the USPS was just suspicious of what you might be sending from KY and wanted a reason to search your package (boxful of peppers)? This seems about the easiest way to achieve a plausibly deniable way to get a judge's attention and have him sign a warrant. No reason to involve that pesky 4th amendment - they just set you up to get searched for a crime that you had no control over "committing".
     Always remember convictions are the goal, not necessarily justice.
 
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Hybrid, it is an odd topic.  From the outside looking into my life, I am sure the business looks like it is growing marijuana.  High electric bill, winter trips to grow store, and so on.  But it is more of a thing to joke about than to be concerned about.  Lets face it, haven received a federal search warrant is kind of cool.  Customer understood and we both got a good laugh, so nobody was hurt.
 
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