U.S. Coast Guard, CBP Seize 20,000 Pounds of Khat at Port of Seattle
khatImage courtesy CBP
PUBLISHED JUL 24, 2022 10:17 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE
The U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection recently teamed up for an unusual drug bust at the Port of Seattle: 20,000 pounds of khat. Marijuana, cocaine, fentanyl and heroin are common enough, but only occasionally do border control agents in the United States pick up a shipment of the Middle Eastern stimulant drug.
A joint Coast Guard-CBP investigation led to the seizure of more than 20,000 pounds of dried khat with an estimated street value of $3.6 million at the Puget Sound seaport. It was the largest seizure of its kind ever recorded in the region.
Khat is a plant grown in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and it contains the amphetamine cathinone. Its leaves are chewed or dried for tea. Cathinone is habit-forming and psychoactive, and it is classified as a controlled substance in the United States. The class is best known in America as a synthetic powder, marketed on the street as "bath salts" - a cheap and dangerous substitute for methamphetamine. The natural version is a socially-accepted drug in Yemen, Somalia and Ethiopia, and some mariners may remember it as the stimulant of choice for Somali pirates.
https://maritime-executive.com/article/u-s-coast-guard-cbp-seize-20-000-pounds-of-khat-at-port-of-seattle
