Suitcases of illegal khat seized at Dulles, 3rd such discovery at Baltimore-area airports in past 2 weeks
By Bryan Lynn, Drew Aunkst
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BALTIMORE, Maryland (WJZ) — A man has been arrested at Dulles International Airport after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers discovered 368 pounds of khat in his luggage, the latest in a string of khat seizures at Baltimore-area airports in recent weeks.
A news release from CBP confirmed Thursday the arrest of 25-year-old Mohamed Diawara, a resident of New York, after the incident on Aug. 14.
Police from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) charged Diawara with felony offenses of possession with the intent to distribute and transporting a controlled substance into Virginia.
CBP officers initially referred Diawara for a secondary inspection after he arrived on a flight into Dulles from Paris, France, the news release said.
CBP personnel then inspected his eight checked luggage bags and discovered “a commercial quantity of a dried organic substance.” Testing identified the organic substance as khat, a controlled substance that has a stimulant-like effect, similar to amphetamines.
Diawara was found to be carrying a combined 367 pounds and 9 ounces of the substance, which CBP said had a street value of about $44,000. CBP officers then seized the khat and turned Diawara over to MWAA officers.
“This is a brazen attempt at smuggling a bulk amount of illegal khat into the United States, but an attempt that failed due to the exceptional work of highly skilled Customs and Border Protection officers,” said CBP Area Port Director Christine Waugh.
“CBP continues to prioritize intercepting dangerous drugs along our nation’s borders, and we work continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold smugglers accountable,” Waugh added.
3 recent khat seizures at area airports The incident is the latest in a series of recent khat seizures at Washington D.C.-area airports. CBP confirmed in the news release that officers are seeing an increase in khat being smuggled in traveler baggage.
In one recent incident, CBP officers recovered nearly 331 pounds of khat from five suitcases at Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport (BWI) that arrived from London on Aug. 11. An additional suitcase containing 81 pounds of khat arrived on Aug. 12, bringing the total to approximately 412 pounds. The material was estimated to be worth $50,000.
Another incident involved CBP officers seizing nearly 850 pounds of khat from two U.S. travelers arriving at BWI who had arrived from London on Aug. 13. Officials said each traveler had six suitcases full of the substance, weighing a combined 846 pounds, with a street value of about $100,000.
Why are khat seizures on the rise? Every day at BWI, a meticulous process takes place behind the scenes, as CBP searches, scans and screens for illegal substances.
“We use certain algorithms, certain techniques to try to identify people that might be smuggling or bringing illicit materials into the United States,” explained Adam Rottman, area port director with CBP.
Rottman told CBS News Baltimore there have been two big factors in these recent busts: Travel from regions where khat is typically grown, and passengers making little or no attempt to hide the drugs.
“There were just drugs, just khat, in their suitcases. So these were, in the one case, I think there were five suitcases. There’s no clothes, no toiletries, nothing but khat in there,” said Rottman.
He said the flights started in Senegal, with connections in the U.K.
“We very seldom used to see in the air environment, so we are seeing a lot more in the air environment — coming in on passengers,” said Rottman. “It generally hasn’t been a really popular drug within the United States, but it’s starting to trend right now.”
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