Focus Taiwan
Date: 07/28/2020
By: Wu Hsin-yun and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, July 28 (CNA) The Council of Agriculture (COA) issued a warning Tuesday after a Taiwanese woman allegedly received a package containing soil from an unknown sender in China, echoing several similar incidents that have been reported in the United States in recent days.

Taiwanese Facebook user Lin Wen-wen (林文雯) wrote in a widely-shared Facebook post Sunday that in early July she received an international parcel containing what was listed as a sample of potting soil from two unknown senders in Shanghai's Qingpu District.

After the delivery service and the 165 anti-fraud hotline were unable to answer her questions about the package, Lin said she contacted the COA's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ), which asked her to bring it to its Taipei Songshan Airport Inspection Station for testing.

On Tuesday, Chen Tzu-wei (陳子偉), head of the bureau's plant quarantine section, confirmed to CNA that his office had received the package, which he said appeared to be nothing more than a soil mixture.    [FULL  STORY]