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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Did you get a tracking # for the package?  That would tell you the route the peppers took.
One of the seed trains was suppose to go from california to colorado.
It ended up in Alaska and Arizona before finally arriving in Colorado.
 
Hawaii is VERY particular about any produce and/or animals that might be entering their space.
 
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Yep and the tracking confirms that the peppers went to Honolulu, hung out for about a week, and then went to the proper destination.

On Hawaii being particular about fresh produce, yes it is.  That is why I do not ship to Hawaii. 

I kind of feel like I should push this, have the post office investigated for unlawfully importing fresh produce into Hawaii.
 
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The USPS definitely screwed up and their SFRB/MFRB usually have $50 insurance.
You might be able to collect.
I would certainly talk to your local Post Master General.
 
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Yeah it's a big deal to send any type of produce in or out of Hawaii. Lots of red tape involved in an attempt to keep "invasive" species out.
Also, since Hawaii has Mediterranean fruit flies and majority of mail flies through California (they hate those flies enough to drown entire neighborhoods with malathion) it's a real bitch to send produce out with Ag. Dept. approval. Big money fines and even jail time for offenders. You got lucky that letter wasn't hand delivered.
 
Funny thing is, even though I can't have somebody send me fresh pods because they might be an invasive species, I can get seeds for those same pods and invade the shit out of my neighborhood within a couple months. :dance: :rofl: :dance:
 
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Winland, previously this season I have only had two boxes go strange places.  Customer asked where their box was, I checked the tracking and send a new box because figure too much time in the mail makes for limp peppers.  Both customers came back for more and I never bothered with filing a claim.  Nothing has ever been flat lost, just a couple that did not get there per the two day priority.  But this one I am thinking about filing the claim just to illustrate how insane it is to have shipped the thing to Hawaii.  Seriously, tracking says it went from Louisville, KY to Hawaiii and then Washington.
 
If we examine the insanity of this event, what we are left with is that a merchant does not only have to meet with the regulations for the state of origin and the state of destination, but every state that the merchandise travels threw.  That is frigging nuts.

Lucky Dog, there is the thing.  I did not send it to Hawaii.  Its really nothing but a thing, but it is great for conversation.  If I ship ground from Kentucky to Michigan do I really have to comply with Ohio law? 
 
Hawaiaanero - Peppers are becoming more of a focus for us than before, but one of our big crops is woad.  We sell the plants, seed, and products at Celtic festivals and games.  Lots of people travel for the Celtic / Highlander games.  When ever I warn that it might be illegal in their state, they ask if it will get them high.  One of these days I will create a list of states that have made marijuana legal that have woad on the invasive weed list.

BTW: Kentucky is the easiest state to own a fully automatic weapon.  My sherrif has a general rule, if you let him shoot it he will sign off on it for you.  Same for any class III weapon.  The guy who owns the equipment rental place down the way owns a fully automatic M16 with a 203 grenade launcher.  It is perfectly legal.  However, until a few years ago firecrackers were a felony.  I flat do not understand the law.

 

After thought: I know what Hawaii is worried about.  Here in Kentucky we got Japanese beetles.
 
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ajdrew said:
BTW: Kentucky is the easiest state to own a fully automatic weapon.  My sherrif has a general rule, if you let him shoot it he will sign off on it for you.  Same for any class III weapon.  The guy who owns the equipment rental place down the way owns a fully automatic M16 with a 203 grenade launcher.  It is perfectly legal.  However, until a few years ago firecrackers were a felony.  I flat do not understand the law.
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Why not, Knob Creek isn't that far away from you.
 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MBf_LvqUsQ
 
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Just recently,
I was a rider on capcoms seed train, I'm in so cal, I shipped to someone in Colorado, usps told me 3 day delivery. Guess where it was in 3 days? Anchorage alaska. 2,100+ miles away.
It got to co in a week.
They screw up alot
 
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Hogleg, yep.  Return address reads "Peppers by Mail".  There is a picture of a pepper on the label.  There is a stamp that says perishable.  When I remember, I put a Kentucky Proud sticker from the department of agriculture.  Then there is the smell.  I can't smell it anymore, but if you dont work around peppers every day the smell really stands out.  I am sure they saw all the hints and said: You can't ship this to Hawaii.  Just think they should have seen the return address and said: This wasnt suppose to go to Hawaii.
 
Lovepeppers, think about it like the all you can eat buffet.  For the same price, you got thousands of extra miles.
 
Jeff, I am not really a gun fan.  I dont have anything against them.  I just think of them like hammers and saws.  If I gotta pick up a gun, it is work related.  Usually something like checking the barn in the middle of the night because I heard coyote.  Again, nothing against anyone who enjoys shooting for fun.  As far as that machine gun shoot, oh damn you can spend some money and fast.,

Trident, I think it was here at THP where someone from Spain commented he gets pods from the UK.  I wish I could be more help.  If you find someone, please do let me know.  This whole Hawaii thing has got me thinking that I should put a list on my site, one that has other growers in places I can not ship.  
 
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CAPCOM said:
what the hell you doing with sand spurs in KS?
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You know, the earth under our feet can be downright puzzling. Georgia soil is full of iron oxide - red dirt can be seen just about everywhere. But go out to the middle of nowhere and find yourself in Sandersville, and you will be in the place that bills itself as the "kaolin capitol of the world." Kaolin is white, white, white. The kaolin miners have to wear protective eyewear similar to a welder's mask, as it's that bright in the sun. (They mine in open pits.) So yeah, where the two come together, iron oxide and kaolin, the ground is pink. As in seriously pink. What the heck is a massive deposit of kaolin doing in the middle of all that iron oxide? Probably something similar to why KY has sand and spurs along with it. And did it ever occur to you that the ground could be pink? Pink?!?!?
 
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geemee, maybe weirder than that.  Under my red clay is blue clay.  In some areas it is kind of a blueish white.  Others the blue is very clear.  Have been goofing with waddle n dob, adobe, and cob but it doesnt wanna stay very blue after mixed with straw and dried.  Turns kind of chalky white with a blue tinge.
 
 
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Update is too funny.

Have copy of form: Mail Interception Notification
 
The federal search warrant was issued because: "..it was suspected of  containbing agricultural material.  All agricultural items must be inspected prior to shipment to the U.S. mainland."

Let me say that again so you get the punch line.  "...prior to shipment to the U.S. mainland"

So then, the post office delivered it to HA by mistake and then said shit, we cant send this to where it is supposed to go cause it might have caught some Hawaiian bugs or something while sitting in our post office.  Punch line, if it were inspected in Hawaii prior to shipping to the mainland, it sill would have sat in that post office.

At some point in this, someone should have slapped themselves in the head and said this is dumb.
 
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I'd definitely file a claim - seems the USPS screwed up and put the package on a plane to Hawaii and then since it was damaged and opened in Hawaii they got the warrant to search it and found it was something that could not be shipped from Hawaii to the States thus it was confiscated.
 
Since it should have never been sent there to start with you should be able to collect damages from the USPS since it was their fault it was sent there. I'd think you should be able to collect on the insurance for the loss and possibly the cost of reshipping new product to the customer. (even though the package was delivered without the product, it was not your fault it was confiscated so the USPS should pay for the loss)
 
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robbyjoe01 said:
Hey I got a few acres of sand spur that would love the island life..........
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Wasn't sure what sandspur was so I googled it and yeah, thanks for the offer but we got em already. We call them Kuku's. My propane torch gets put to use a lot when these guys start popping up.
 
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