OSP seizes Khat
By Andy Gates - Argus Observer
Sunday, May 6, 2007 12:22 AM PDT
ONTARIO - An Oregon State Police trooper seized an illegal drug during a traffic stop last week that is rare for Oregon, common in Africa and Arabia and steeped in Yemen tradition.
The drug Khat is classified as a controlled substance, and possession of it can be a felony crime in the United States.
Oregon State Police Lt. Rich Pileggi said a trooper stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation Tuesday afternoon near North Oregon Street and Washington Avenue, at the north interchange. The driver was a 22-year-old man from Salt Lake City, Utah.
During the traffic stop, the trooper seized a leafy substance that was in plain view, Pileggi said.
Police are investigating where the substance may have come from, Pileggi said, but the quantity seized was a user amount.
The substance tested positive at the OSP crime lab as Khat, a schedule-one controlled substance, Pileggi said.
No charges have been issued yet in the case, Pileggi said.
Pileggi said police will likely seek a warrant for the Utah man’s arrest.
Khat, also known as Bushman’s Tea or Gat, comes from a shrub commonly grown in southern Arabia and eastern Africa. Its leaves are chewed, like loose tobacco, and it is a stimulant that causes euphoria and raises blood pressure for durations spanning 90 minutes to 24 hours, according to information from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.
Taken excessively, Khat can cause hyperactivity, manic behavior, delusions, paranoia and hallucinations.
It sells for $30 to $60 per bundle in the U.S., according to the DEA.
Khat degrades and becomes less potent after 48 hours of being harvested, so international Khat traffickers typically use human couriers to transport suitcases of the drug on commercial airlines and also express-mail the drug in packages, according to the DEA. Freezing Khat also slows degradation, officials said.
Khat is not normally seized locally.
“It was the first time I’ve heard of it,” Pileggi said.
DEA Spokesman Steve Hooten, Seattle, said, “we’ve encountered it somewhat recently, there’s not a whole lot of statistics we have as far as Oregon.”
There were only two Khat submissions in the Oregon State Police Laboratory System at the beginning of 2006, according to a January 2006 DEA Microgram Bulletin.
The OSP Forensic Laboratory for Portland received 90 bundles of fresh Khat in 2006, which had been seized by the Portland Police Bureau, under “circumstances unknown,” according to the DEA.
The prevalence of Khat in the United States is apparently on the rise, according to the DEA. Seizures increased from 14 metric tons in 1995 to 37 metric tons in 2001 — and in the first month of 2002, 30 metric tons of Khat were seized.
The DEA conducted the largest Khat enforcement operation ever last year in New York, coined Operation Somalia Express — 44 people were charged, and 25 tons of Khat, worth more than $10 million, was seized, according to a July 2006 DEA release.
One of the alleged leaders of the organization was employed by the United Nations and allegedly smuggled Khat into the country with a diplomatic pouch, according to the DEA.
The large Khat organization allegedly spanned many states, including New York, Ohio, Minnesota, Maine, Massachusetts, Utah and Washington.
Evidence suggests most money made from the sale of Khat moves back to Europe and the Middle East, according to the DEA.
Officials from the Oregon Department of Justice did not return a call for comment.
mike may wrote on Oct 28, 2009 12:47 AM: