Port’s Third Largest Khat Seizure and Third Huge Seizure this Year
STERLING, Va. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than 761 pounds of khat from Nigeria at Washington Dulles International Airport on Thursday.
Officers initially examined two shipments Tuesday after they arrived as air cargo aboard an Emirates Airlines flight from Dubai, UAE. The shipments, manifested as clothing destined to an address on Long Island, New York, contained dried plants that the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed as khat.
The shipments collectively weighed 345.34 kilograms, or 761 pounds and six ounces, and collectively ranks as the Port’s third largest khat seizure. It has a street value of about $100,000. The khat will be destroyed. An investigation continues.
This is CBP’s third significant khat seizure at Washington Dulles International Airport this year. On April 1, CBP officers discovered 1,138 pounds of khat shipped from Ethiopia, which is the Port’s second largest khat seizure, and on March 21, CBP officers seized 147 pounds of khat from Nigeria.
“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. “CBP remains deeply committed to conducting our traditional law enforcement missions, including narcotics interdiction.”
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, and cathine as a Schedule IV controlled substance. Read more from the DEA on Khat, and on the DEA Khat Fact Sheet.
CBP officers screen international travelers and cargo, and search for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality.
CBP seized an average of 3,707 pounds of dangerous drugs every day across the United States last year. Learn more about what CBP accomplished during "A Typical Day" in 2019.
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.