US Customs Officers Seize Large Shipment Of Khat At Dulles Airport

DULLES, VA — Officers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 761 pounds of khat from Nigeria at Washington Dulles International Airport Thursday, according to a release. This is the third sizable shipment of the Schedule IV controlled substance intercepted at the airport this year.

Customs officials originally examined two shipments that had arrived Tuesday aboard an Etihad Airways flight from Dubai, UAE. Manifested as a shipment of clothing headed to an address in Long Island, New York, the two shipments contained dried plants, which the U.S. Department of Argriculture examined and confirmed to be khat.

The combined weight of the shipments was 345.34 kilograms, or 761 pounds and six ounces, with an estimated street value of $100,000. On March 21, customs officials seized a 147 pound shipment of khat, with an estimated value of $20,000, and on April 8, the seized an 860 pound shipment valued at $155,000.

"This latest khat seizure is significant in size, and further illustrates the vigilance demonstrated by Customs and Border Protection officers to intercept dangerous products that threaten our communities," said Casey Durst, CBP's director of Field Operations in Baltimore, in a release. "CBP remains deeply committed to conducting our traditional law enforcement missions, including narcotics interdiction."

Primarily grown in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, khat is chewed for its stimulant effect. It was classified as a drug of abuse in 1980 by the World Health Organization.