New York man arrested at Dulles Airport with 65 pounds of khat in bags
A New York man has been arrested after customs officials at Dulles International Airport discovered 65 pounds of khat in his baggage.
The man, 24-year-old Bakari Wally, was arrested Thursday morning and charged with possession with the intent to distribute and transporting a controlled substance into Virginia, a statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said.
Khat is a controlled substance that has a stimulant-like effect, similar to amphetamines.
The seized khat weighed 29.6 kilograms, or about 65 pounds. It has a street value of about $8,000, CBP said.
Wally had arrived at Dulles from Casablanca, Morocco. Officers first identified bags of a dried organic substance in his checked baggage. Field tests confirmed the organic substance as khat, the agency said.
CBP has said officers have noticed an increase in khat being smuggled in the baggage of travelers.
On August 20, CBP officers seized 368 pounds of khat from another man's baggage at Dulles airport. CBP officers also seized 412 pounds of khat and 847 pounds of khat in separate incidents at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) in August.
"Travelers who smuggle illegal products to the United States will quickly learn that Customs and Border Protection will find it and we will work with our law enforcement partners to pursue severe consequences, including felony criminal charges as this traveler is facing," CBP Area Port Director Christine Waugh said in a statement.
She added, "Smugglers should know that the risk of prison time is not worth what transnational criminal organizations pay them to violate our nation's laws."
