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InvisibleveggieM

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
Khat users are using delivery services to smuggle [MN]
    #5465813 - 03/31/06 11:05 PM (17 years, 9 months ago)

Khat users are using delivery services to smuggle
March 31, 2006 - harowo.com



(AP) A leafy drug grown in Africa has appeared in record numbers in the Twin Cities in recent months, and authorities say it's being shipped from Africa and Europe through overnight mail.

But delivery companies are catching on, and have been calling authorities when they believe a package contains the drug, called khat.

"It can go two, three, four days in a row we'll get a call from UPS or FedEx saying they're holding onto suspicious packages," said Lt. Richard Clark of the Ramsey County Drug Task Force.

But for every package that's intercepted, Clark said he believes many more are delivered.

Smugglers appear to be switching to rural and suburban delivery sites to get khat to urban buyers.

"Minneapolis has seen it. St. Paul has seen it," said Sgt. Todd Nelson of the Southwest Hennepin Drug Task Force. Now, it has spread to the suburbs and beyond.

"So there's arrests in Moorhead, Nobles County (and) Chisago County," he said. On Thursday, authorities intercepted 40 pounds of khat, pronounced "cot", at a Federal Express site in Maple Grove. The drug was destined for St. Paul.

Grown in Ethiopia, Kenya and other countries in the Horn of Africa, the leafy cash crop is legal in East Africa and most European countries. The leaves, which can be chewed or brewed in tea, are said to gradually produce feelings of euphoria. While researchers debate whether the drug is addictive or habit-forming, khat has been associated with side effects ranging from depression to hyperactivity, anorexia, insomnia and impotence.

"It's associated with laziness," said Omar Jamal, executive director of the St. Paul-based Somali Justice Advocacy Center. "People sit around for hours chewing."

But Jamal worries that East African immigrants will be unfairly targeted as drug dealers for what's considered a common pastime in their home countries.

"This is a classic case of culture clash," said Jamal, who said Somalis have called him requesting legal help. "We're getting calls from Moorhead. We're getting calls from St. Cloud. We're getting calls from Rochester, from Waseca. We're getting calls from very small towns we've never even heard of before."

In late February, Moorhead police found a 22-pound shipment of khat that was going through an overnight delivery company. Officers arrested two East African men, one from Minneapolis and the other from Fargo, N.D.

Because it's fairly new here, some officers don't recognize khat as a narcotic.

Moorhead narcotics Detective Brad Stuvland said he has known patrol officers who have thrown khat out, not realizing the small bundle of leaves and twigs, packaged in banana leaves to preserve moisture, warrants a charge of fifth-degree drug possession.

Because khat helps suppress appetite, some Twin Cities police have encountered it during Ramadan, the holy month when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. The month, which shifts with the lunar calendar, began last year in early October. Officers usually expect khat use to wane after Ramadan, but that didn't happen this year.

"We're seeing more and more activity at the beginning of this year," Nelson said. "Stats are going through the roof."

Each bundle of khat sells for an estimated $25 to $50 on the street.

Ramsey County investigators seized eight shipments in March, totaling more than 260 pounds.

"That's the most we've taken off ever in a month. We didn't take 260 pounds in all of last year," said Deputy Sheriff Bruce Rossini, who said the street value of the shipments were between $27,000 and $50,000.

"And Customs (officials) are telling us we're only getting about 5 to 10 percent of the packages being shipped," Rossini said. "If you do the math, it's a multimillion dollar industry, even just in Minnesota."

In 2005, Customs and Border Protection intercepted 3,485 pounds of khat in Minnesota or in transit to the state. The estimated street value was between $400,000 and $1.25 million.

Cherise Miles, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said officers pay attention to packages shipped from locations in Africa or Europe, weighing between 20 and 25 pounds and labeled as clothing or household goods.

Another clue is that khat may give off heat, like wet hay.

"Some of the packages heat up, and they warm to the touch," Rossini said. "Those are dead-giveaways."

Investigators said smugglers see the Twin Cities' Somali population as an enticing market. According to state estimates, more than 25,000 Somalis live in the area.


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Offlinerawtoxic
Stranger
Registered: 10/06/02
Posts: 2,097
Loc: smokey mountains
Last seen: 13 years, 5 months
Re: Khat users are using delivery services to smuggle [MN] [Re: veggie]
    #5478902 - 04/04/06 12:13 PM (17 years, 9 months ago)

Khat is not that great IMO. I am glad the cops will be busy chasing it around.


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