STERLING, Va., – For the second time in one week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at Washington Dulles International Airport seized a khat load from Nigeria that was destined to Georgia.
Officers seized 175 pounds, 11 ounces of khat Tuesday that arrived in three boxes of air cargo July 19. The khat was concealed inside silver bags that were comingled in boxes of clothing. The shipment was manifested as “edible items.”
Officers submitted a sample to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) botanist who verified the substance Monday as , commonly known as khat.
This seizure follows a CBP 103-pound khat seizure Friday. That load from Nigeria was also destined to an address in Dallas, Georgia.
The khat will be destroyed.
“These two recent khat seizures illustrate Customs and Border Protection’s mission to interrupt transnational criminal organizations that thrive on the sale of illicit narcotics to fund their other nefarious businesses,” said Casey Durst, CBP’s Field Operations Director in Baltimore. “CBP officers remain steadfast in our duty to protect our communities and our the nation against illicit and dangerous drugs when we encounter them.”
Khat is typically grown in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and is chewed for its stimulant effect. The World Health Organization classified khat as a drug of abuse in 1980.
The Drug Enforcement Administration classifies cathinone as a schedule 1 drug – the most restrictive category used by the DEA. Please see more information on the DEA Khat Fact Sheet.
CBP routinely conducts inspection operations on arriving and departing international flights and intercepts narcotics, weapons, currency, prohibited agriculture products, counterfeit goods and other illicit items at our nation’s 328 international ports of entry.
On average, CBP officers seized 4,657 pounds of illicit narcotics every day during 2018. Learn what more CBP achieved during "A Typical Day" in 2018.
CBP's Border Security mission is led at ports of entry by CBP officers from the Office of Field Operations. Please visit CBP Ports of Entry to learn more about how CBP’s Office of Field Operations secures our nation’s borders.
CBP continues to hire officers to serve in Baltimore, Philadelphia and other locations across the United States. Learn more about duties, pay and benefits, and additional specialty opportunities of a CBP Officer or visit Apply Now to start the application process. Read more about it here. For local recruiting questions, contact Baltimore-recruitment@cbp.dhs.gov.
Learn more about CBP at CBP.gov.