BY EMILY GURNON
Pioneer Press
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Minnesotans played key roles in a global smuggling operation that imported tons of an illegal East African drug called khat to the Twin Cities and nationwide, federal authorities said Wednesday.
The smugglers rushed the drug from fields in the Horn of Africa to immigrant communities in the United States so customers could chew the leafy stimulant at the height of its potency, authorities said.
Thirteen Minnesotans were among 44 people indicted in Operation Somalia Express, which the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration called the largest khat bust in the nation’s history.
The operation imported more than 25 tons of khat worth more than $10 million, authorities said.
“With these arrests, an international trafficking organization that had a monopoly on the khat drug distribution across the nation has been dismantled,” said John P. Gilbride, special agent-in-charge of the agency’s New York office.
On Wednesday, authorities rounded up 31 of those indicted, including 10 Minnesotans. At a federal court hearing in Minneapolis, a judge detained six of the arrested Minnesotans and released four with orders to appear later. The other three Minnesotans have yet to be arrested.
Lawyers who represented the four men declined to comment.
Khat, a flowering evergreen shrub that grows in Kenya and Ethiopia, contains cathinone, an illegal stimulant to possess and use in the U.S.
Khat grows in the wild, but also is cultivated for export. About 150 tons are shipped from Kenya every week, and khat is Ethiopia’s fourth-largest export, according to the indictment.
From December 2004 to this month, the suspects arranged to import the drugs to the U.S. by flying it out of Kenya and Ethiopia to Europe. Traffickers wrapped bundles of khat in banana leaves, shipping it quickly to retain its potency, officials said.
Some of the khat was smuggled into the U.S. by couriers, who carried it in suitcases on commercial flights from Europe to New York. Other shipments were sent via mail.
Traffickers used Somali money-wiring operations called “hawalas,” including some in Minnesota, to launder the money, authorities said. One of the leaders of the operation once threatened to kill a customer who had stolen khat from him, the indictment stated.
The Minnesota defendants named in the indictment are Ali Awad, Abdi Emil Moge, Abdinur Ahmed Dahir, Yasir Hohamed, Sofia Robles, Isse Ali Salad, Ismail Ali Mohamed, Maxamed Abshar, Hussein Ahmed Mohamed, Abshir Ahmed, Weli Mohaamed Abdi, Warfa Abdi Dirie and Abdiazis Salah Mohamed. Other information about the 13 defendants, including their ages and places of residence, was not available.
Hassan Muse, a friend of Dahir’s who appeared at the hearing in Minneapolis, said he doubted his friend could be involved in drug trafficking.
“From what I know, he has nothing to do with it,” Muse said. “He is the last person who would have anything to do with it.”
Moge was described in the indictment as the “principal distributor of the organization’s khat in Minnesota.”
Khat users chew the leaves of the plant, swallowing the juices, which induce a feeling of stimulation and euphoria.
Robert Carlson, a physician assistant with the Center for International Health of Regions Hospital, said health workers frequently hear about khat use by young and old alike.
For the young, “They’re kind of looking for something to give them that buzz that they need,” Carlson said.
The long-term effects of the drug are not known, he said.
Federal drug officials say side effects include anorexia, heart disease, high blood pressure, oral cancer, gastric disorders, irrational outbursts and hallucinations.
Tom Walsh of the St. Paul police said the drug has become much more common as the Twin Cities’ East African community has grown.
“Ten years ago, khat was not something that our narcotics people would have even recognized,” he said. “Now they’re very familiar with it. They know its effects.”
Nancy Yang contributed to this report.
Emily Gurnon can be reached at egurnon@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5522.
Source: Pioneer Press, July 27, 2006
