Customs Officers Seize $155K In Nigerian Khat At Dulles Airport

DULLES, VA — Just two weeks after seizing 147 bounds of Nigeria Khat, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Washington Dulles International Airport snagged an even larger shipment of the illicit leafy stimulant in an air cargo shipment from Ethiopia.

On Thursday, a U.S. Department of Agriculture botanist confirmed that the two separate shipments seized by Customs officers on April 1 that were marked as tea were in fact Catha Edulis, commonly known as khat.

One of the shipments weighed nearly 860 pounds and was headed for an address in Alexandria. It was the second largest load of Khat ever seized by the Port of Washington, D.C., and the third largest for the Baltimore Field Office.

The second shipment weighed nearly 278 and was headed for an address in San Jose, California.

The combined weight for both shipments was nearly 1,138 pounds, with an estimated street value of $155,000.

On March 21, Customs officers seized 147 pounds, 4 ounces of Nigerian khat at Washington Dulles International Airport. That shipment was headed to an address in Washington, D.C., and had an estimated street value of about $20,0000

“The April 1st incidents were significant, some of the largest khat shipments we’ve seen at Dulles airport, but it further illustrates the vigilance demonstrated by our Customs and Border Protection officers to intercept dangerous products that threaten our communities,” said Javier Cortes, CBP’s Acting Area Port Director for the Area Port of Washington D.C., in a release. “CBP remains deeply engaged in our nation’s whole-of-government response to the serious coronavirus pandemic; however, we remain committed to conducting our traditional law enforcement missions, including narcotics interdiction.”

The World Health Organization classified khat, which is typically grown in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, as a drug of abuse in 1980. Users chew the substance to create a stimulant effect.

Customs officials seized an average of 3,707 pounds of dangerous drugs every day across the U.S. last year.