In the past few weeks, there have been hundreds of reports of U.S. residents receiving mysterious packets of seeds in the mail, mostly with Chinese return addresses on them. Some of these packages were labeled to suggest that they contained jewelry or electronics, which prompted the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Homeland Security to investigate. It’s been happening here in DeKalb too.

The DeKalb Police say that if you receive one of these packages: Do not open it. Don’t attempt to return the package. If you already opened it, don’t open the seed package inside. Don’t plant the seeds and don’t throw them away. Take a photo of the package and call the police department so they can make a record of the incident and give you further instruction on how to properly dispose. They also say to report it to the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

So what’s the deal? China’s Foreign Ministry says it looks as though the mailing labels on the seed packages were forged. They have asked the U.S. to return the packages to China for investigation.