Seed orders being intercepted by customs

I just recieved news from a seed bank out of Spain that recently thier shipments are being intercepted by customs. Has anyone had this problem or have you heard that this is currently happening. I have ordered from these people for years and never encountered a single problem but they expressed serious concern about this.

yes, there are huge problems atm of seed orders not making it past customs in tact.. many, many, many threads here about this..
seems that chicago customs is the worst culprit of this, with l.a. lagging not too far behind..
so far it seems like new york is the best bet for getting your beans coming through unharmed, so if you happen to live on the east coast, your chances seem to be a bit better ..

racerboy71 said:

yes, there are huge problems atm of seed orders not making it past customs in tact.. many, many, many threads here about this..
seems that chicago customs is the worst culprit of this, with l.a. lagging not too far behind..
so far it seems like new york is the best bet for getting your beans coming through unharmed, so if you happen to live on the east coast, your chances seem to be a bit better ..

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Howdy Racer....dam..that blows. I placed two orders earlier this season with them and all went well but now that I placed this last order...right before the shop closed down for the season I received a message from them expressing strong concern that it might not get here. They said they would ship but were giving me fair warning. Now I need to make a decision ...let them fly or call it off!!>??? Crap

I had seen allot of posts but many were about attitude. I have not come across anything being said about Spains seed banks??

Oh man, Castle seeds is sending me a package and now I am concerned that it won't make it past the customs

Got my beans taken a week ago in la from the oct promo at ASB. Looks like the seed banks have a serious issue on their hands. Customs was bound to tighten things up sooner or later but it came on strong.

Bear Country said:

Howdy Racer....dam..that blows. I placed two orders earlier this season with them and all went well but now that I placed this last order...right before the shop closed down for the season I received a message from them expressing strong concern that it might not get here. They said they would ship but were giving me fair warning. Now I need to make a decision ...let them fly or call it off!!>??? Crap

I had seen allot of posts but many were about attitude. I have not come across anything being said about Spains seed banks??

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people post mostly about the attitude mainly because they're one of the largest banks in the world, so the sheer volume of orders they get compared to smaller places accounts for the larger number of snagged orders imo..

i do know of one bank based out of spain that earlier this year i think it was even closed down for a bit as a result of all the orders not getting through.. not going to name names as the last time i did that, i caught some slack as a result..
umm, i've heard some really good things abou sea of seeds stealth methods, although i've never ordered from them personally.. just gong by what i've read on here.. even herbies has decent stealth ime..
but yeah, ordering anything illegal like live cannabis seeds is always going to be a gamble, and it seems that atm, customs has really been upping their game sad to say..

Andrew2112 said:

Oh man, Castle seeds is sending me a package and now I am concerned that it won't make it past the customs

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Well up until now I had peace about it but when the breeder themselves emails and gives the warning....thats not good at all!!! So needless to say I am concerned about this to. Its left me feeling a bit indecisive about this situation!! Especially since they also mentioned that address were being written down and customers receiving messages about the order being confiscated.

you could also maybe try and order from a canadian based bank or breeder as it seems that canadian orders don't get looked at nearly as hard as say a package from the netherlands, or the uk, or spain anymore even..

first time i ever ordered i thought to myself...man they are stupid to give a letter in place of the order because we can use that to refill the order! well looks like they are finally wising up..i am not ordering anything else into the country, a while back a guy made a thread about silkroad and i commented not to use it, that a computer geek buddy told me its being watched by feds and is not safe regardless of what people think because of encryption and fake money. a bunch of people laughed and shrugged me off, now they are all on a list along with any given information if they chose to order and have lost their bitcoins as well...who knows if the fbi will start going around and arresting customers of silkroad one way or another..anyway im not going to be one of the people worrying when the seedbanks get nailed and their records seized...by the time that happens i will be nearing the statute of limitations and id advise you all do the same. glad i stocked up! on a bright note if they do shut down the seedbanks or make it impossible to get them they will simply be made easily available right here (america), benefit of supply and demand

Just got my Sensi NL is record time from the 'tude. IMO- the smaller packages go right through and the bigger ones with merchandise are the ones they look at more often. BTY- if the feds ever do crackdown on the seedbanks- its a good thing I have stock piled myself then huh?

First of all, if you're in CO, you can buy high quality se-eds legally over the counter. Right now you need a medical card (which apparently isn't particularly hard to get) but IIRC, in Jan it will be open for anyone to buy these. You can also buy se-eds legally from dispensaries in CA, and I think a few other places with a card.

You won't get the same massive selection as at a big overseas bank, but IMO its a very good option. Rare Dankness and 303 Se-eds are two CO-based outfits that sell in state and reportedly have absolutely top quality product. Alphakronik is also in CO, and supposedly has some good lines, and I'm sure there are others now and will be more soon. In my opinion, you're better off picking from a short list of excellent beans, than a ridiculously long list of beans of various and uncertain quality.

Yes, apparently US customs has been focusing more on confiscating beans and they've been having significant success with it. Part of this has just been a massive explosion in small home growing with medical legalization/decriminalization. More people are growing then ever before, and more beans are being shipped than ever before.

As mentioned, some outfits use better stealth than others, and some originating locations are under higher scrutiny than others (eg any small package from Holland is automatically suspect).

But the fact is, beans are small and easily hidden. With so many thousands of letters and packages coming into the USA every single day, customs is never really going to be able to stop all of them; they can only increase the percentage they capture, discouraging buyers, and driving up costs. I think there is going to be some industry shakeup over this, with increased costs and fewer outfits willing to ship into the USA.

On the other hand, right now I know of at least two breeders inside the USA who will ship beans domestically, avoiding the customs issue. Obviously, individual small growers can generate their own beans, and sell/trade between each other, again, avoiding customs. While home-made "pollen chucks" have a bad reputation, the fact is, some of these are as good as some of the commercial lines.

While true Federal cannabis law reform is probably a decade off, I do think that with increasing domestic legalization, domestic sources of beans will only increase in number with time.

Attitude asked me this morning if I could come up with a new name and address. lmao. I have 4 orders out right now.
I can't help but wonder wtf chicago is doing with all those seed orders. They can't just destroy them, could they?

If the confiscated beans are going through proper channels they will be destroyed along with all the imitation name brand clothes/shoes/purses that they also confiscate. A company I worked for had a shipment of regular non fake shoes confiscated just because it was in the same shipping container as another companies fakes and everything in the container was destroyed, ran over with bulldozers, ended up on the news lol.

If you must order do it in the middle of December when the have massive amount of shipments due to Christmas, they wont have time to fuck around with small packages then. I'd say your chances of getting your stuff will probably be 75-80%.

I personally stopped buying seeds and made my own this season for my next grows. I'm just glad I have a decent stash to select from and easy availability of clones to cross out to.

gladstoned said:

Attitude asked me this morning if I could come up with a new name and address. lmao. I have 4 orders out right now.
I can't help but wonder wtf chicago is doing with all those seed orders. They can't just destroy them, could they?

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i think it's kind of silly to assume that anyone destroys confiscated anything that has a value to it.. idk, i could be wrong, but i also don't think that cops get rid of confiscated drugs that could possible bring millions of dollars in revenue to them..
it's just not the american way to steal from others and not make a profit from it for sure..

Its cause the NSA is watching you they watch you place the order and then watch you track it get the tracking info snatch the beans and load up there vault........ we should all be wearing tin foil hats they may even have mind control.... its a fucking conspiracy!!

I always ship mine this way.
customs don't fuck with letters as bad





....using the corrugated plastic sheet. (just an oldie I made a while back).


It will lend to any small seed being sent. Be imaginative.


Though this post will deal specifically with Cannabis seeds for vendor/enthusiast. In an age of war on terror and the post getting tougher, envelopes are the way to go if payload can fit and survive transit. So before I start, there's a couple of things that need to be stated to give some perspective.


A.) 50 Cannabis seeds weighs approx 1 gram




The ^above is important to customs parcel management and does play in envelopes as well. Payload is payload. Envelopes of course do not have customs declaration which is the focus of this document. None the less, strict rules apply.




Things you will need.


a.) scissors or a sharp knife with cutting board.


b.) ruler


c.) skewer stick


d.) corrugated plastic sheet


e.) A4 paper


f.) cello tape


g.) an envelope


h.) a set of scales




1.) Like the point ^above of A.), there's a second issue at stake. That's the "average length of Cannabis seeds". The seeds used in this example are typical sized Cannabis seeds. Jack Flash x Red Devil. The general rule of thumb is 5mm long, as can be seen in the photo. True, there's 25 Cannabis seeds in a neat line and they take up 11cm in length, but 5mm should be the expected norm to work on. This point of length will be important to consider and I will discuss that shortly.







2.) Payload is of issue in an airmail envelope and the same rules apply too to a domestic envelope. In this example, this is the regular airmail envelope. Chosen because it is inexpensive, commonly used in the post so discreet and available from all Aussie post offices. The weight to consider is a standard A4 sheet of paper, the airmail envelope and of course, the plastic corrugation. All up, a modest 20 grams. Total finished envelope is to weigh no more than 50 grams and must not exceed 5mm width. This is why the corrugated plastic sheet is so handy, it's only 3mm thick. Add the A4 paper that ends up 3 layers in folds with the envelope and it sits comfortably within the 5mm specification.


IMPORTANT: Envelope must not exceed 5mm thick and/or over 50 grams weight.







3.) The size of the corrugated plastic sheet is to be 10cm x 21cm. That will fit inside the envelope comfortably and will allow a neat A4 sheet to fold around it. Cut it to that size.







4.) The size of the corrugated sheet can be seen smaller than the envelope. Make sure it is cut 10cm x 21cm.







5.) Now to fill it with Cannabis seeds. You will need a wooden skewer and some patience. Put one seed in at a time and push to far end. Do not feed a bunch of seeds in or they will lock and snag inside the cell channel.







Now here's some interesting crunch outs.


A 10cm x 21cm sheet of corrugation plastic has 65 cell walls if cut with cell wall lines in width and not length.


Thus, 65 x 10cm at one Cannabis seed per 5mm length, means a single sheet as seen in this document can carry 1300 Cannabis seeds. Nifty eh. No customs and that's 1300 seeds to anywhere in the world.


But play it safe and factor in the "point A.)". Yes, 1300 Cannabis seeds will weigh approx 26 grams.


Now add 26 to the 20 grams that be the airmail envelope, the corrugated plastic and the A4 sheet and it's 46grams and that's within specification of the 50grams maximum allowed and of course, it's all within specification of the 5mm thick envelope finished product. But make sure you weigh it up before you post. The figures I've given are only guides. You can not afford errors.






6.) Note: For the purpose of this document, I've only demonstrated a single cell line of fill.


To ensure that payload (Cannabis seeds) do not slip from the corrugated plastic sheet in transit, use light weight cello tape or packaging tape on each end of the cell line that houses the Cannabis seeds. Naturally, factor in the weight of the tape too. So keep adding up in weights of each unit of the envelope contents in running tally with a set of scales at the ready.







7.) Now fold your A4 sheet over the corrugated plastic sheet. Use a regular business style folding to do this.







8.) Final product is complete. Neat and ordered. It is discreet.









9.) Note. For the sake of this document and for easy display I used white corrugated plastic sheet. But, it is preferable to use black corrugated sheet because the seeds can be seen if the finished envelope is held up to the light.







10.) In photograph "9", that's hard to see, but with the photograph taken without the flash, then the celing halogen light clearly demonstrates how ineffective white corrugated plastic sheet is.









11.) If you only have white sheet then fold in a piece of dark paper out of an old glossy computer games magazine. This will stop silhouette. Weighs the same as a standard A4 paper which is 5grams.







Final notes:
If also wondering "how strong is this, can it stop the Cannabis seeds or for that matter any small seed from being crushed?".


I have stood on it with one foot (total body weight to it) with a blundstone boot on and no seeds cracked. It will hold up against the general run of the mill postal transit because the plastic corrugation does not compress. However, like cardboard,it is flexible so it does not feel strange in an envelope to the feel of your hands.


That's it.
Starter.

the only thing i don't like about that method scar is that seeds can be a real bitch to get out of the cardboard ime..
i've cut beans using a razor trying to cut open the cardboard, as well as had beans go flying in every which direction another time when i did finally get it open, lol..

i'm a bit nervous of cracking or damaging seeds by simply pushing them out of the cardboard the rest of the way..

gladstoned said:

Attitude asked me this morning if I could come up with a new name and address. lmao. I have 4 orders out right now.
I can't help but wonder wtf chicago is doing with all those seed orders. They can't just destroy them, could they?

Click to expand...

You and I are in the same boat bro, got two orders sitting in Chikaka...Never gunna see those beans I wonder if attitude is going to give my money back...Seen a lot of threads of people getting ripped??

racerboy71 said:

the only thing i don't like about that method scar is that seeds can be a real bitch to get out of the cardboard ime..
i've cut beans using a razor trying to cut open the cardboard, as well as had beans go flying in every which direction another time when i did finally get it open, lol..

i'm a bit nervous of cracking or damaging seeds by simply pushing them out of the cardboard the rest of the way..

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Use a match stick. I know of one seed company that always includes a match stick like thing with their packages, but they are very discreet and could be even more discreet with a little creativity.

Jogro said:

First of all, if you're in CO, you can buy high quality se-eds legally over the counter. Right now you need a medical card (which apparently isn't particularly hard to get) but IIRC, in Jan it will be open for anyone to buy these. You can also buy se-eds legally from dispensaries in CA, and I think a few other places with a card.

You won't get the same massive selection as at a big overseas bank, but IMO its a very good option. Rare Dankness and 303 Se-eds are two CO-based outfits that sell in state and reportedly have absolutely top quality product. Alphakronik is also in CO, and supposedly has some good lines, and I'm sure there are others now and will be more soon. In my opinion, you're better off picking from a short list of excellent beans, than a ridiculously long list of beans of various and uncertain quality.

Yes, apparently US customs has been focusing more on confiscating beans and they've been having significant success with it. Part of this has just been a massive explosion in small home growing with medical legalization/decriminalization. More people are growing then ever before, and more beans are being shipped than ever before.

As mentioned, some outfits use better stealth than others, and some originating locations are under higher scrutiny than others (eg any small package from Holland is automatically suspect).

But the fact is, beans are small and easily hidden. With so many thousands of letters and packages coming into the USA every single day, customs is never really going to be able to stop all of them; they can only increase the percentage they capture, discouraging buyers, and driving up costs. I think there is going to be some industry shakeup over this, with increased costs and fewer outfits willing to ship into the USA.

On the other hand, right now I know of at least two breeders inside the USA who will ship beans domestically, avoiding the customs issue. Obviously, individual small growers can generate their own beans, and sell/trade between each other, again, avoiding customs. While home-made "pollen chucks" have a bad reputation, the fact is, some of these are as good as some of the commercial lines.

While true Federal cannabis law reform is probably a decade off, I do think that with increasing domestic legalization, domestic sources of beans will only increase in number with time.

Click to expand...

Yes..I have access to domestic breeders but there were a few strains I wanted to get my hands on before shit hit the fan....which its apparent that it is now happening. Thus the reason I breed and breed and breed and continue to breed. The quality of my seeds are excellent and the outcome from my own breeding projects is as good or better then anything you can buy here or from across the pond.

Its all about genetics!! Even with poly hrbreed seeds, they are like little genetic bombs ready to produce HIGH QUALITY buds...even if you do get different phenos...9 times out of 10, if high quality genetics were used, then high quality bud is what you will get. Hell...even with so called "stable genetics" you get the occasional runt or freak now and then.

Therefore I say....breed my fellow growers...BREED!!!!!!! One pollenated plant can produce as many as 2,3,even 4 thousand seeds. More then you or I could ever grow!!! But you can always trade or just share as someone already mentioned!!!